Something Strange
by PurdyBaby
Summary: Something strange has landed in the feudal era just in time for Halloween. Will our group manage to thwart this new and powerful enemy or will it be the end of the line? {COMPLETE}
1. N

_Boys and girls of every age_

_Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Something Strange

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"We need to find a healer," a withered old man uttered in a terrified whisper before his companion spit back bitterly, "Why? She isn't going to make it."

"How can you be so heartless? This woman..." the old man clipped back angrily as he stared the other man down in silent challenge.

"Women die in childbirth every day. There ain't nothing a different healer can fix. If the midwife didn't know what was wrong, what makes you think a different healer is gunna be able to do a damn thing different," the younger man hissed as his expression darkened, "My brother...my brother will just need to remarry. In the meantime, I know my wife will assist. She's about to stop breastfeeding Ai but can offer her breast to the new babe. Chiyo is _gone_, elder and there's nothing we can do about it except move on."

"You'd have him remarry? Your brother is grieving _and_ has a new infant to care for," the old man scoffed as he sent the young man an incredulous glare as the brother spit back venomously, "I don't see _him_ here begging to take her to a healer! He _knows_ Chiyo is as good as dead and is focused on his child instead of chasing after a prayer. Let her go so we can bury her and be done with it."

"She isn't even _dead_ yet. There is still..." the old man countered angrily before a strange sound eminated from the all too still woman on the cart behind them. Her voice cracked and rose and whined into a shrill shriek as her skin broke open in pus-filled sores. Once brown eyes blinked unseeing into the night sky behind milky cataracts. Despite these sudden and alarming changes, it was clear the woman was rotting before their very eyes and the smell of it was unlike anything either of them had smelled before. Death was not uncommon in times such as these and the smell of death was not foreign to them. But this was different. It was a high, gassy, gagging smell of high-speed decay. Too sudden and unnatural.

"I told you," the brother whispered in a horrified tone, "We should put her out of her misery. This isn't right to let her suffer."

"Perhaps you're right," the old man murmured back sadly as he reached for the machete they'd brought with them for protection, "Perhaps..."

The woman suddenly twitched and began to writhe uncontrollably as her shrill shriek escalated. Her form unsteadily sitting upright - her milky white eyes unseeing and yet, somehow, staring straight at them as a guttural growl eminated from her chest.

"What on earth?" the elderly man whispered in horror as he took an involuntary step back, "This can't be. This..."

Faster than either man could react, the woman's arm melted into a twisted reddish mass and shot forward impaling them both. As it retracted, the woman...nay the creature...slowly got to her feet and moved to tower over the younger man with a sadistic grin on her lips.

"What are you?" the younger man asked hoarsely as he choked on a pleathora of blood. Kneeling down, the woman's unnaturally strong hand gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled him closer. With an entirely grotesque voice the woman chuckled once before replying with a feral snarl, "_Chaos_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"InuYasha?" Kagome asked timidly as she quickened her pace to stand alongside the hanyou, "After we get done, I was wondering whether we could go to my era."

"Since when do you ask permission?" the hanyou snorted as he sent her a knowing glance and smirked, "S'not like you've ever asked before. You usually just _announce_ you're going home."

"I do too ask," Kagome huffed defensively before blushing furiously, "I just...well I want you to come with me this time."

"What for?" InuYasha asked suspiciously as he turned his head and narrowed his eyes, "What? Your grandpa need help with the shed again or somethin'?"

"No, nothing like that," the miko sighed before clearing her throat - her blush darkening to a deep crimson, "It's just...well my friends are throwing a party. A, uh, costume party. You wouldn't need to hide your ears or anything. You could just go as you are. Anyway, I was wondering whether you'd come with me."

"Why?" the hanyou asked - genuinely surprised by her request and bothered by the reminder that he had to hide in her era. It was as disturbing as it was compelling. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

"Because I want you to go," Kagome responded with a shy grin before asking with slightly more hope when the hanyou didn't reject her request outright, "So will you go with me?"

"You didn't answer me wench," InuYasha replied as a faint blush grew on his cheeks, "_Why_ do you want me to go?"

"Well... you're my _friend_," Kagome began hesitantly - not wanting to give the impression that she was wanting more from the boy who would never love her back, "And I want you to be there."

Wrinkling his nose - with what Kagome perceived to be disgust or at a minimum annoyance - InuYasha sighed heavily and kept walking without responding. Of course she'd only want him to go because they were '_friends_'. Everybody in the freaking world was a friend of hers seemed like and if they weren't, they probably wished they were. Okay, not everyone. There were enemies and shit. But still it wasn't like he'd ever let her know _he_ wanted _more_ than her friendship. Wasn't like he'd ever told her he..._liked_ her so much. Here she was asking him to pretty much escort her -which why would she when he went around insulting her and bossing her around all the time? - which initially allowed hope that she too wanted more. Same hope that was crushed as soon as she made it clear that wasn't the case. It wasn't so much she wanted him to _escort_ her as...well just _accompany_ her. As a _friend_.

Why would she see him any other way anyhow? Why the hell would she want him? Stupid thing to hope for really. After all, she had all sorts of suitors which probably would be more worth her while and had so much more to offer her. Even _Koga_, as much as he hated to admit it, could give her so many things that would forever be out of his reach. A place to belong. A way to provide for her. Status she'd never get by mat..._associating _with someone who was torn between worlds. Hated by both humans and demons alike.

His ears flattened incrementally as that thought crossed his mind and he finally responded more harshly than he intended, "Why not just go with that Hojo asshole? I'm sure you'd just _love_ that."

"Hojo?" Kagome asked incredulously as she gave the hanyou a strange look - a mix between being impressed he remembered Hojo even existed and confusion about why he was bringing him up now, "I'm not asking _him_ to go with me. I'm asking _you_. Besides he's already invited and going so I don't _need_ to ask him."

"Whatever," InuYasha clipped back as he huffed in frustration - trying to hide the subtle ache in his chest that appeared he thought about Kagome with another man. Of course she'd already invited that bastard. _Before_ she asked him he might add. As his own insecurities festered, he almost snarled as his face darkened, "What makes you think I'd even _want_ to go?"

"So that's a no then," Kagome sighed sadly as she shook her head and gave him a weak smile that didn't match the hurt swirling in her eyes, "Well, um, sorry I asked. I'll...I'll just be going then."

And with that she fell back to walk alongside Sango. A twinge of guilt settled in InuYasha's gut as he stared into the canopy and sighed heavily. What the hell was wrong with him? It would've been easy enough just to have agreed. After all, it wasn't like her request was _unreasonable_. And it did mean _something_ that she'd asked him to go. Didn't it? Aside from the fact that he was the only one able to cross through the well, she could've _not_ asked him. Maybe...maybe sometime later he'd tell her he'd changed his mind. That'd make her happy. After all, he didn't want her to think he straight up hated her and have her start hating him in return. That's the last thing he wanted. In the meantime, he needed to stick with what he said. Backpedaling so soon just wasn't his way. He'd go but only _after_ seeming to give it some thought.

It was a few hours later that Kagome once again approached him. This time with a different request. If you could even call it that.

"InuYasha, we need to stop," Kagome whined as she trudged behind the stubborn hanyou, "The jewel shard isn't going anywhere. We can spare an hour for lunch."

"The village is literally an hour away," InuYasha countered as he turned to face his companions with an exasperated huff, "Besides you ate _breakfast_, didn't you?"

"Yeah, a _poptart_," Kagome countered as she rolled her eyes, "Come on. We can't keep up with you on an empty stomach."

"Not my fault all you ate was that disgusting crap," InuYasha snorted before gesturing to Sango and Miroku, "_They're_ not hungry because they ate..."

"Actually, I am a bit hungry," Miroku added thoughtfully as he leaned against his staff and smiled micheviously, "Come now InuYasha. Would you really have us going into battle without our full strength?"

"Whatever," InuYasha grumbled as he turned abruptly and headed towards the treeline muttering to himself, "_Puny humans. Needing to eat every five minutes. Pathetic._"

"And just where are you going?" Kagome asked as she set down her backpack and stretched her arms above her head.

"If you want to sit out in the open, that's your business," InuYasha clipped back as he rolled his eyes and continued walking, "_I'm_ going to..."

Before he could finish, a blood covered man staggered out of the forest clutching his chest before abruptly collapsing. In an instant, InuYasha was by his side quickly followed by a breathless Kagome who began checking the man's wounds.

"He's been impaled by something," the miko murmured as she signaled for Their companions to grab the backpack she'd left behind, "I don't..."

The man started and twitched suddenly with a painful sounding gasp - cutting off the miko's assessment as he rolled onto his side and tried to move away.

"Get away," he whispered hoarsely, "She's coming. I need to go. I need..."

"Who's coming?" Kagome asked as she furrowed her brow and reached out to still her patient struggling to get to his feet, "Don't do that. You're wounded."

"You don't understand," the man cried out desperately as he sent a terrified glance into the trees, "She'll kill us all."

"Who?" Kagome asked again as InuYasha unsheathes his sword and scanned the forest for the threat this man believed was oncoming.

"She was my sister in law," the man murmured before emitting a crazed laugh, "Now...now she's something else. A demon or...or something. Except...except I've never seen a demon like that."

"Come across many demons, do you?" InuYasha snorted as he cast the man a skeptical glance, "You've been running yourself to death over nothing. I don't smell a damn thing."

"I ran...I ran after she attacked and left me for dead. Wasn't keeping track of whether she was following me or not," the man countered as he tried to steady himself against the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood, "But she was _dying. _And then...and then she wasn't. I wasn't going to stick around."

"Dying," Kagome repeated softly as she furrowed her brow, "Was she attacked? Perhaps she was possessed?"

"She died in childbirth stupid girl," the man hissed like it was common knowledge somehow as his arm trembled from the effort of keeping himself upright, "A demon attacked her shortly before she went into labor. There was nothing to be done."

"That's awful," Kagome muttered sadly, "I'm so..."

"The child lived but for all I know that _thing_ went back and slaughtered them all," the man continued weakly as he collapsed against the ground and gave that crazed laugh once more, "Should've just put her out of her misery. Should've...should've..."

And then he went still - his eyes staring blankly ahead and his face went slack. Just as the others arrived with Kagome's backpack.

"What happened?" Sango asked sadly as she knelt down beside the corpse, "Did he say what attacked him?"

"A possessed bitch," InuYasha supplied as he put his sword back in its sheath, "Said she got attacked by some demon and then went apeshit."

"It's just so sad," Kagome sighed tearfully as she gave the man a sympathetic look, "I wonder where he came from."

"We can follow his trail," InuYasha supplied as he crinkled his nose, "The bitch's scent is pretty strong. It shouldn't be..."

"Stop calling this poor woman a bitch," Kagome cut him off as she sent him a chiding glance, "She was possessed. That's not her fault."

Huffing, InuYasha gave Kagome a withering glare but otherwise didn't comment. He had no interest being slammed into the dirt and there was something about the man's story that sounded oddly familiar. Familiar enough to send a chill down his spine. It bothered him and - for a moment - the jewel shard they'd been chasing and Kagome's request were forgotten.

"I'll perform his last rites," Miroku offered with a sad sigh, "We should bury him as well before we leave. It'd be wrong to leave him like this."

"Let me guess. You want me to dig the grave?" InuYasha groaned before sighing and looking around, "Fine. But after that we need to head out. Something about this doesn't feel right."

"Agreed," Miroku commented as he inspected the man's wounds, "I have never seen someone possessed inflict these types of wounds before. Whatever did this needs to be stopped."

"Could it be Naraku?" Sango asked as she looked into the treeline as though she expected to see the baboon skin in the distance, "I don't doubt he has the power to do something like that."

"Maybe," Kagome hummed thoughtfully as she let out a shaky sigh, "That poor woman."

The group dutifully went about their work. Each wondering whether this was the work of their archenemy or something else entirely. Little did they know, they were about to face an enemy unlike any they had ever encountered before.

A fair distance away, the woman in question staggered into the very village our group had been heading towards - ready to find a new, unwilling host.


	2. I

_Come with us and you will see_

_This, our town of Halloween_

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Something Strange

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"So the demon who plagued your village was slain," Miroku stated more than asked as the frantic villager wrung his hands, "Yet you did not hire any slayers and as far as you know, no other demons attacked it."

"That's right. Made no sense if you ask me," the villager whispered anxiously as he fumbled with his pocket and retrieved a single jewel shard, "There's somethin' else. Found this near the remains. Take it. I don't want no trouble."

"So whatever slayed the demon didn't take the shard," Miroku sighed wearily as he passed the glowing pink crystal to Kagome before asking point blank, "Has anyone died or gone missing recently in your village? Any injured by this demon or acting strangely?"

"No, no. Few huts got taken out but we got lucky none got hurt," the villager answered in a slightly relieved tone before he furrowed his brow and hummed thoughtfully, "Now that I think about it, we had a traveler come through. Didn't say nothin' but gave us a bit of a scare she did. Covered head to toe in sores. Wasn't sad to see her go to be honest and that _stench_... Well, goes without sayin' the last thing we need is plague."

The monk hummed in understanding even as he cast a glance at his companions who clearly were thinking alone the same lines. This 'traveler' very well might have been the woman they'd been warned about and very likely was the one who slayed the demon plaguing this village. Still, it was odd that a demon would ignore a jewel shard after going through that trouble.

"Thank you. You've been most helpful," Miroku told the man sincerely before walking back towards his comrades who had held back. It was always easier for Miroku to approach first and be their spokesperson. Kagome's apparel always made them assume she was a harlot rather than a miko. Sango was a woman slayer - which was something people didn't believe existed and thus, the basis for their distrust. Shippo was a demon and a child. Kilala was unable to speak. And InuYasha...well, _obviously_ being of demonic origin aside, lacked basic social skills. Yes, they usually sent Miroku but, per the norm, all of them could weigh in on their next plan of action. Not that he was perfect. Miroku, for all his strengths, had some faults too. Many in fact. Most involving him being a perv.

"Well, what do you think?" Kagome asked quietly as the group gathered and she cast a worried look at the village elder still watching them wearily, "I don't sense a demonic aura and I don't feel any more jewel shards."

"Guy was obviously insane. You can't seriously expect us to go after this bitch," InuYasha groaned as he rolled his eyes and gestures toward the elder who frowned and shifted anxiously where he stood, "Besides you heard him. Woman probably was just sick or something."

"You have yet to mention a scent, which is unlike you," Miroku pointed out as he gave the hanyou a knowing glance, "Perhaps you are correct but I do believe this warrants further investigation."

"Well she had the scent of death on her. That's for damn sure," InuYasha begrudgingly admitted as he sent the monk a withering glare, "If she hasn't already croaked, she's on her way out."

"Anything else? Anything _unusual_? Metal perhaps?" the monk pressed - earnings confused look from the miko and slayer.

"Why would she smell like _metal_?" Kagome asked as she furrowed her brow and tilted her head to the side, "I mean, I know iron smells like blood sometimes but I think InuYasha knows the difference."

"I ask because many years ago, a boy came seeking aide after an attack on a village near Mushin's temple," Miroku began before pausing and furrowing his brow at the memory, "All of the villagers perished."

"So why, _exactly_, are you bringing _them_ up? This guy just said woman looked like she had the plague," InuYasha huffed in frustration as he rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his sleeves. The woman did smell of metal but he wasn't going to tell the monk that. It was the principle of the thing and he sure as hell didn't want to chase this woman on the off chance the man they'd found wasn't delusional.

"When our help was requested, it was our expertise in _healing_ that had been solicited. A strange illness had taken to one of their women after a man had attacked the village. The man was described as being covered in pustules and dark spider-like markings. The villagers believed it to be plague and wanted our assistance to contain the spread of disease," Miroku said solemnly as his hand gripped his staff a little tighter, "When we arrived, however, the bodies were little more than piles of flesh that smelled _distinctly_ metallic even to our less refined senses. Their bones and flesh disintegrated when touched. It was impossible to bury what little remained."

"How horrible," Sango gasped before furrowing her brow, "Did you ever determine what killed them? Poison or miasma?"

"Perhaps an acid of some kind but Mushin was never entirely sure. I was young so perhaps he eventually discovered the cause without telling me yet one thing was certain. It was a _human_ that attacked the village. The messenger described a young man they'd never seen before and his weapon of choice was a scythe," Miroku sighed heavily as he glanced at the village elder who was now accompanied by several young man holding scythes, "In any case, we should move on. The villagers are becoming restless."

"Fine by me," InuYasha huffed as he pointedly began walking in the direction from whence they came until he noticed that the others we're walking in the opposite direction.

"InuYasha, are you coming or not?" Kagome called back playfully as she paused and gestured for him to follow with a knowing smile on her face.

"_Why that_..." InuYasha swore softly as he narrowed his eyes in silent accusation. Going after the most likely dead bitch was probably Kagome's idea and she knew - _KNEW_ \- that hell would freeze over before he let her go anywhere he didn't determine safe without him. How could he? After all, it was that short span of time he _hadn't_ been stalking Kikyo that she'd been attacked. Had been killed. His mother too had died while he was out playing in the courtyard. Neither one was really his fault per se but it was enough to instill in him a strong paranoia. Every single person he had _ever_ loved died when he wasn't watching. Every. Single. One. He couldn't lose Kagome too. Couldn't...

Damn. Speaking of watching, he needed to speak with her about that party thing. Now that he thought about it, a party with, uh,...with _boys -_ boys were dangerous, right?_-_ could end very badly in more ways than one. Sure her era was safe for the most part but...well...

"_Stupid woman_," InuYasha muttered under his breath as he headed back towards the group with a sour look on his face, "_Can't leave you alone for a minute without you getting kidnapped or some shit. Coming up with the stupidest ideas._"

Like asking a half-demon to a party for example.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

So many spend a lot of time and energy on their Halloween decorations but Yuka had turned it into an art. Thick cobwebs had been hung over the solitary tree in her small, humble front yard. Over the bushes, the doorframe and overhang as well. The walkway was lit only by the jack-o-lanterns that sent out an orange flicker through their mouths and eyes - glowing slighting in the dimming evening light. In the small patches of shaggy grass lay dozens gravestones and severed body parts.

It wasn't just outdoor decorations that she'd prepared for the weekend festivities. Oh no. She'd created the ultimate Halloween playlist filled with the classics - mixing in several horror movie instrumentals to set the mood. In addition to what was outside, she had enough decor to plaster the entire interior of her house and some more besides.

"This is going to be so epic," she breathed as she went to the small gate that marked the entrance and inspected her outdoor work, "I just can't..."

"Wow! This looks great," a familiar voice piped up from directly behind her - making her jump, "Did you do the inside too?"

"Oh my gosh, Ayumi! Don't scare me like that! Do you want to give me a heart attack?!" Yuka hissed as she clutched her chest and half-heartedly glared. Ayumi smiles sheepishly before muttering a soft apology.

"I was coming to tell you I spoke with Keiko and Hina. They say they're coming. I think Keiko is going to bring Akira," the newcomer enthused before opening the gate and grinning, "That's everyone in class! And I think Akira might invite his friends too! It's really..."

"Well not everyone," Yuka sighed in a slightly disappointed tone, "Kagome probably won't come. I've called her house multiple times and I keep getting told she's too sick to answer. I left messages but I doubt she'll come."

"She might," Ayumi soothed as she rubbed her friends arm before adding in a thoughtful tone, "Maybe she'll bring her boyfriend. You know the one with the long hair? What's his name..."

"InuYasha. Weird name if you ask me," Yuka muttered as she scowled, "I hope she doesn't. He'll probably start a fight or something."

"He didn't seem so bad when we met him," Ayumi hummed was she rolled her eyes and knelt down to poke one of the pumpkins, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Says _you_," Yuka clipped back as she folded her arms across her chest, "I don't trust a guy who onlyhas _one_ outfit. He's like permanently in cosplay or something."

"It's traditional garb, I think. Kagome does live at a shrine. Maybe that's what she's into," Ayumi answered indifferently as she got back onto her feet, "People like what they like."

"We've known her since she was _five_," Yuka scoffed as she wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Every boy she's _ever_ liked has been completely normal. This guy is just weird and...and I just don't get it."

"Well, maybe she's old school. She didn't get a cell phone until a few months ago," Ayumi countered as she moved to touch the cobwebs and sighed, "Besides, she's always rocked traditional stuff. You remember her kimonos at the festivals at school? They were always on point. She knows everything about tea. She said she knew how to cook over a campfire at the festival last year too. Maybe she was worried we'd judge her so she never said anything."

"She does tend to get embarrassed easy," Yuka admitted begrudgingly, "Especially recently. She runs away from anything that makes her uncomfortable. I can't count the number of times she's disappeared whenever Hojo came around. Or that time she randomly said sip during gym class then bailed."

"See? Maybe she's embarrassed. You remember how nervous she was that we met her boyfriend and he was _so_ nice too," Ayumi cooed as she moved back and looped her arm around Yuka's, "Maybe one day they'll get _married_! Oh! Can you imagine a traditional wedding! I wonder..."

As Ayumi continued to prattle, it was all Yuka could do not to cringe and opted instead for a subtle side eyed glare.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"_This human form is limiting,_" a deep guttural voice reverberated from a small child - no more than five whose body he had stolen when the woman's vessel collapsed and moved no more. The only reason she had served him so long was due to her extra reserves she had maintained having been bred. It was admittedly a parasitic existence. One that had served him well these past sixty years. Still, mankind was weak and many he had attempted to latch onto perished when their bodies rejected his intrusion. A rejection, as was the case with his last shell, was painful for the host. Their veins necrotized. Skin burst at the seams before decaying at a rapid pace. Their organs failed and became inedible. Death was certain if the host was not compatible and most were not. Not all but most.

There had been only one host that had ever served him for any length of time. Only one. A young bandit - barely fourteen but strong. For a period of roughly five years, they had been united. Able to co-exist. The young host relished in the newfound power and procured many to appease the newfound appetite for flesh that accompanied the foreign intrusion. Still, despite their mutually beneficial relationship, the young man's body too gave out. The heart unable to handle the stress caused by hosting a being in his veins. It was almost a shame when it became necessary to feast on the boy's flesh in those last moments. _Almost_.

Ah yes, it was a pathetic existence. Pointless really. Had he known this was the fate that awaited him, he honestly would not have bothered.


	3. G

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_

_Pumpkins scream in the dead of night._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

It had been a long, emotionally draining day. They'd found the woman alright - or at least what was left of her. Miroku's hunch rang true. Still, what disturbed them the most were the remnants of three others and the muddled scent of a child leading into the distance. As the sun dipped below the horizon, however, the group came to an unspoken consensus that continuing their pursuit in the pitch black of night would be a terrible idea. Especially considering they had no idea what they were up against. It wasn't a demon. That much was clear by the notable lack of aura. There was no scent of acid, miasma or poison ruling those out. It was almost as if these people dropped dead and turned to mush of their own accord. It made absolutely no sense...and that was a problem. A problem that bothered some of the group more than others who had more..._pressing_ matters on their mind.

"Tell me more about this party thing of yours," InuYasha asked a little too casually as Kagome prepared her sleeping bag after having stayed up a little later to fit in some studying. After everything he'd seen that day, he'd come to a decision. Well, _okay_. So _what_ if he was already going to agree to go but until they figured out what the hell was going on Kagome needed to go far, _far_ away.

"I thought you didn't _want_ to go," Kagome clipped back as she stubbornly refused to look at him and unzipped her sleeping bag, "So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to..."

"I ain't excusing shit until you tell me about this party," InuYasha countered as he gracefully moved to sit next to her sleeping bag and smirked, "And I never said I didn't want to go."

"Yes you _did_," Kagome huffed in exasperation as she sent him a side-eyed glare, "You made it very clear you didn't want to go."

"Did not," InuYasha clipped back irritatedly as he glared right back, "You gunna tell me about this party or not."

"No I don't think I will," Kagome huffed as she mustered a superior look and sniffed pointedly, "I'm going to bed."

"What's your problem?" InuYasha snarled quietly, "I just said I'd go."

"That is _not_ what you said," Kagome hissed as she finally turned to face him and rolled her eyes, "Maybe _I_ don't want you to go anymore. Ever think of _that_?"

Instead of the reaction she anticipated, there was a moment - a split second - where she saw a flash of hurt and insecurity in his eyes. Could it really be he wanted to go with her after all?

"_Whatever_," InuYasha muttered as he got to his feet and prepared to storm off, "Sounded _stupid _anyway."

"InuYasha..." Kagome sighed but it was too late. Without so much as a glance back, he'd taken off into the nearby treeline to pout.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Stupid Kagome," he muttered angrily to himself as he settled in a tree and glared hatefully at their camp, "You don't want me to go, huh? _Fine_. Be that way. Wasn't like I _wanted_ to go anyway."

Okay, so that was not entirely true. It wasn't so much he wanted to go as it was that he...well he...he, uh...

Huffing once as he struggled with himself, he leaned back against the tree bark and began rhythmically rapping the back of his head. Okay, so _what_ if he wanted to spend time with her away from the others. _Especially_ if she wanted him to escort her, which would give him an excuse to stay _especially_ close to her. Maybe the opportunity to make a move might even present itself. At the very least that Hojo jackass might finally take a hint that while Kagome wasn't _necessarily_ taken, she was...was...

Exhaling through his nose, he closed his eyes and pouted slightly. Why did she have to make things so complicated? Hell, anyone with eyes could tell he..._liked_ her. Miroku had made that _abundantly_ clear on many occasions. Shippo could probably tell by scent alone - if the brat even knew what he was smelling anyway. Sango...he wasn't sure but those knowing, patient looks she gave him sometimes had him guessing she knew too. Even Kaede made it a point to lecture him about telling Kagome he..._cared_. The _only_ person too blind to realize was Kagome.

"Stupid bitch," InuYasha muttered with an exasperated sigh as he cracked open one eye and glared at the distant form of the miko, "Why you gotta make shit so..."

A not too distant crack of a twig had his thoughts turning elsewhere. It didn't _smell_ like a demon. Whomever it was was clearly human.

"Maybe the human brat's just been hiding," he murmured as he furrowed his brow and sniffed once more. There wasn't that metal scent anyway. Maybe he'd been wrong. He could've sworn...

Sighing and rolling his eyes, he gracefully moved and landed almost inaudibly onto the forest floor before casually making his way towards the scent. Didn't want to scare the kid by coming out of nowhere. If he'd learned anything from Kagome, it was that sometimes a gentler approach was needed. Not that he'd ever let _her_ know that he learned that. It was the principle of the thing.

"Hey. You okay?" InuYasha called out as quietly as he was able, "I'm, uh, not going to hurt you. Just...just..."

Cringing slightly, he trailed off and began glancing around for some sign of the kid. He was close - probably in the bushes if his nose was correct. Which it always was - earlier mistake aside. That bothered him more than he'd like to admit. When he originally picked up the kid's scent in the meadow, brat reeked of metal. Didn't make sense that the scent was gone now but it was enough for InuYasha to doubt himself.

"Why, uh...why don't you come out, huh?" InuYasha tried to say as warmly as someone like him was capable - his mind scrambling to think of things Kagome might say in this situation, "I'm...I'm sure you're hungry. We...we have food and shit you might like."

"I am _hungry_," a soft voice came from his left as a small boy emerged from the bushes where Inuyasha's nose had picked up the scent. The boy moved closer - his small brown eyes appraising the hanyou in an entirely disconcerting way that had InuYasha squirming uncomfortably. InuYasha had never been great with kids. Never. The only reason he hadn't woken the others before coming out here was because...well, Kagome would be happy to know he found the brat. In fact, Kagome would be _so_ happy, she might take back what she said and admit she wanted him to escort her. Maybe even more than that if she found out how..._nice_ he was being.

"Well, um, why don't you come with...with..." InuYasha muttered before blanching as the child came closer still and grabbed him firmly by the hand. Staring at the appendage like it burned him, Inuyasha's eyes widened in panic as he moved a hand to awkwardly pat then _pry_ the little shit's hand off him.

"So... thats enough of that," InuYasha began awkwardly as he tried to keep his usually quick temper at bay. Would do no good for his cause to come back with a screaming brat. So distracted was he by the hand clasping his own that he failed to notice how the boy's face went slack as black, molten ooze poured from his nostrils with a life of its own. Gently, subtly moving down boy's arm until it came in contact with its target.

"What the _fuck_?! Get this crap _off_ me," InuYasha swore as he tried to rip his hand from the kid in horror - a hand that now felt permanently fused to his own. Shaking the kid violently to get him to let go, InuYasha suddenly felt utterly paralyzed - his limbs suddenly frozen in place - as the black tar-like monstrosity began sliding up his arm then slithering across his body until it settled on his erratically moving chest. Panic-filled amber eyes watched as the thing slowly began slowly being absorbed until it finally vanished - the hanyou's temporary paralysis vanishing with it.

"Where the hell did it go?!" InuYasha muttered wildly as he ran his hands desperately over his chest and then his entire body, "Where'd it _fucking_ go?!"

The scent of metal wafted into his nose - temporarily distracting him from the fact that some nasty black goo had just penetrated him. The smell only serving to send his panic to new, previously unimagined levels. Releasing a shaky breath, he watched completely transfixed in abject horror as the child began melting before his very eyes. The skin bubbling grotesquely as his tiny body imploded in on itself until the boy was no more than a pile of bloody flesh.

"_Holy shit_," InuYasha breathed anxiously as he stumbled backwards and the reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. Whatever bullshit was going around killing people...

"_Kagome_," InuYasha managed to whisper weakly as a wave of excruciating pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before began searing through his veins and his vision blurred, "_I need to..."_

Whatever he needed in that moment never left his lips as his eyes rolled back and his legs gave out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"InuYasha?" Kagome's worried voice filtered down his hazy mind as the sensation of a soft hand gently patting his cheek registered, "_Hey_, wake up."

Groaning slightly, InuYasha raised a hand to his pounding head and blinked sluggishly up at the miko trying to remember what happened.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked in a worried tone as she searched his face for reassurance, "What happened?"

Furrowing his brow, InuYasha racked his brain but for the life of him, he couldn't remember how he got here. Turning his head to the side, his eyes widened in alarm at the sight of the bloody pile of flesh. One panicked thought forcing its way out of his mouth like vomit.

"Wasn't me," he breathed anxiously as his eyes widened in panic - his mind not quite catching up to this turn of events. It was true he couldn't really remember what exactly had happened - which was typical if he went full demon but he didn't...

"We know it wasn't you," Kagome hushed in what she hoped was a reassuring yet clearly worried tone, "Calm down."

What worried Kagome more was not the utterly bizarre way InuYasha was acting but that he'd been unconscious for the better part of the day without having any visual injuries. As InuYasha began to hyperventilate, however, the odd behavior quickly became the bigger concern.

"Look at me," Kagome ordered softly as InuYasha continued hyperventilating - eyes wide, scared and utterly panicked as he managed to wrench away his eyes from the pile of still bubbling flesh to look at her.

"You're okay," Kagome murmured affectionately as she reached out a hand to cup his face - running her thumb across his cheek as she repeated herself, "You're okay."

Shaking his head slightly, he tried and failed to get ahold of himself - his heart was beating so fast it felt like it might burst while his head pounded and his stomach twisted angrily. Never, _never_ had he felt like this. Like every breath was pure agony; his muscles tense and refusing to relax.

"You need to calm down," Kagome soothed as worried eyes took in his clawed hands gripping and releasing the dirt in time with the uneven movements of his chest.

'_Can't he...can't he remember how to breathe?'_Kagome thought as her eyes opened wide and noticed how his breaths were now coming in increasingly shallow pants.

"Breathe with me," Kagome ordered softly as she quickly moved behind him and propped him on her shoulder - gently prying one of his hands off the ground and squeezing it in time with her breaths, "Come on. Just breathe with me. One. _Two_. _Three_..."

Slowly, InuYasha began matching her instructions - although sometimes out of sync - until his eyes fluttered closed and he slumped against her.

"What was _that_?" Shippo finally asked in a worried voice as he looked first to Kagome and then the others who looked just as confused and worried as the kit felt.

"I'm not sure," Miroku murmured as he watched Kagome gently lay Inuysha's head onto the soft forest floor before checking his pulse.

"Do you think..." Kagome began in a strained tone as she glanced at her friends and swallowed thickly. Glancing at the flesh puddle, Kagome took a shuddering breath before continuing, "Do you think that whatever is doing this to people got to him too?"

"Perhaps," Miroku responded after a tense moment before sighing and shaking his head, "However, I find it unlikely something capable of doing this to someone would leave a victim uninjured."

"Maybe what he saw scared him," Sango offered as she sent a worried glance at the monk and cringed, "I can't imagine that though. InuYasha isn't afraid of anything."

The others had no counter and didn't really want to know. They'd seen the hanyou stare death straight in the face and refuse to back down. Short of Kagome getting injured, they'd never seen him act like anything bothered him. If it was something so terrifying that it scared even him...

"Why do you think you have to do everything on your own?" Kagome murmured sadly as she brushed a few stray hairs off Inuyasha's sweat laden brow, "Why would go off like that on your own? It wouldn't hurt you to ask for help once in awhile."

Sighing, the others merely exchanged nervous glances before deciding that whatever it was that was attacking these men and women could wait until Inuysha had recovered and was able to tell them exactly what he saw.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ye are sure he had no injuries when ye found him?" Kaede asked as she ran her wrinkled hand over the hanyou's bare chest, "His injuries do resolve themselves quickly."

"I don't know how long he was out there," Kagome murmured sadly as she pulled her knees a little tighter against her chest and sighed, "Could've been hours. Maybe he did heal on his own before we found him."

Humming in understanding, Kaede opened one of his eyes and inspected it but finding nothing concerned released it and shook her head.

"There does not appear to be anything wrong with him," Kaede hummed as she leaned back and looked at the miko, "I suggest ye take him to your world for the time being."

"I can't lift him out of the well," Kagome huffed incredulously as she stared at the old woman like she was insane, "And what am I supposed to do to get him there? Throw him in and hope for the best?"

"Aye, ye have a fair point," Kaede hummed as she glanced back at the hanyou, "Perhaps it would be best to leave him here for the time being to allow him to recover."

"I never saw him act like that," Kagome murmured quietly as she bit her lower lip, "You didn't see him, Kaede. I was so scared. Are you sure.."

"Worry not. He will recover. It is possible his injuries are internal but they too shall heal," Kaede agreed as she groaned and got to her feet, "There is little ye can do but wait, child. Why don't ye try to get some rest?"

Exhaling through her nose, Kagome forced a smile that clearly said she thought the elderly priestess was being overly and uncharacteristically dismissive. If Kaede had seen him earlier, Kagome knew the analysis would've been much different. Never in a million years would the miko ever be able to believe InuYasha would be reduced to _that_. It had been _terrifying_. At least for her anyway. Something _was_ wrong with him. _Terribly_ wrong.

Sighing heavily Kagome idly reached for the woolen sheet and pulled it a little further up the hanyou's body before moving to lay beside him - doubting she'd be able to rest until InuYasha opened his eyes.


	4. H

_This is Halloween, everybody make a scene_

_Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright_

_It's our town, everybody scream_

_In this town of Halloween_

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"'_Gome_," InuYasha groaned softly as he tried and failed to open his eyes - his head lolling in the direction of her scent. He couldn't remember for the life of him how he got in this mess. The pain and panic from earlier had subsided for the most part. Replaced by fatigue so absolute it was a struggle not to pass out. Everything seemed to be moving at a snail's pace, as he lay there submerged in a hazy fuzz. The more he fought the sensation, the harder it became as though his energy was being drained by some outside force. Like something was calling him to just give up and accept the blackness trying to envelop his mind.

The longer he tried to fight it, the more pain he felt searing through his veins. Almost like something was trying to burn him alive from the inside out. It wasn't the worst pain he'd ever been in. That was for damn sure. Uncomfortable, sure, but if he could still stand after being impaled, he could handle a little discomfort. It wasn't the physical pain that truly bothered him anyway. Oh no. It was the utter humiliation of being reduced to a little bitch earlier for no god damn reason. Wasn't like he'd been injured or anything. He just...

"InuYasha? You awake?" Kagome's voice trickled into his muddled mind - garbled and distant like a wall of water separated them. Lolling his head away from her, he pouted slightly and tried to maintain what little dignity he had left as he felt her press a cold cloth to his forehead. He could smell her tears too which was just the icing on the shit cake. Why she always felt the need to cry for him he'd never know. Wasn't like he was dying or anything. At least not physically. Was it possible to die of shame?

"It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. Just breathe, okay?" he heard Kagome shush him - bringing his embarrassment to new heights as he realized his breathing was once again coming in labored pants. For the life of him, he couldn't remember how he even got into this mess. Never in all his many years had he ever succumbed to an injury. Never. Sure, there'd been times he'd blacked out from blood loss but this was different. For one thing, far as he could tell, he wasn't even hurt. For another, he almost felt disconnected from his own body - completely lacking the ability to control whatever the hell was happening.

'_Give in_,' he heard a strange voice filter through his mind just as another wave of exhaustion washed over him, '_Give in._'

'_The hell?'_ Inuyasha thought as he furrowed his brow and unconsciously lolled his head back towards Kagome, '_What's that mean...'_

'_Allow me to show you_,' the voice offered - sounding slightly more confident as it continued, '_Submit to my will and I can give you the world.'_

With a strangled gasp, Inuyasha's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright in panic before instantly regretting that decision as his vision blurred and his arms shook with the effort of holding himself upright. Was he going insane? Or was that his...his demon side surfacing? Not that there was much of a difference. Breathing heavily, he turned slightly panicked eyes on Kagome - noting her outstretched hand still holding the damp cloth - before forcing himself to relax and turning away.

"InuYasha?" she murmured quietly - so many unspoken question in her tone. Was he alright? What happened? Did he know her?

"How long was I out?" InuYasha asked hoarsely - trying to sound as casual as possible even as his heart tried to break free from his chest.

"Two days," Kagome breathed as she searched his face for answers and swallowed thickly, "We found you in the forest and...and..."

"Two days?" he repeated numbly as he glanced at her for confirmation and cringed when he saw Kagome nod once.

'_Great. Just...great_,' InuYasha swore silently as he glared hatefully at the innocent ground like it offended him by existing. It did in a way. A reminder that he'd been stuck in this god forsaken hut for two whole days just because he couldn't handle a little pain. Clumsily getting to his feet - ignoring Kagome's protests - he held himself as steadily as he could and stormed out of the suffocating hut without another word.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Okay so food wise I think we're covered," Yuka hummed as she went over the painstakingly written list of preparations and chewed the inside of her cheek, "Now we just need to get the drinks."

"I saw a recipe for punch online," Eri hummed mischievously as she cast a wicked grin at her two friends, "And I think I can take sneak out some of my dad's vodka. It's been in the back of our cabinet for years. I'll just put water in it and he'll be none the wiser."

"We really shouldn't be drinking," Ayumi chided as Yuka and Eri sent her a patient look as she continued thoughtfully, "We should really just stick to soda. Oh! We can use cranberry juice and tell people it's blood."

Rolling her eyes, Yuka turned her attention back to the list and hummed thoughtfully, "That sounds great Eri. I might be able to convince my brother to get some sake too. He owes me a favor for helping him shop for his girlfriend."

"I _really_ don't think..." Ayumi protested weakly before trailing off as the two others continued planning - obviously having no plans to listen to her input.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

He'd heard the old proverb that insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. He'd heard it but it was wrong. That wasn't insanity. That was stupidity. No. Insanity was realizing he no longer fell asleep. No longer ate. No longer knew if his thoughts were his own. It had been three days since he woke up now. Three. Whole_. _Days.

I mean_, sure _he'd gone without sleep for longer than this before but this was different. There wasn't a reason for it. Not really. He was hungry. That much was sure. That part he could understand and he'd accepted the consequences of not satiating his hunger but he wasn't _tired_. It felt like his body was running on pure adrenaline - his heart in constant overdrive beating so fast it was a wonder it hadn't burst. Even during battle it'd never done this. All _that_ he could handle. It was the voice reverberating around in his skull that he couldn't.

And, the worst part, was that hell would freeze over before he let Kagome know.

"InuYasha, so I was thinking..." Kagome began a little too casually - their friends moving to subtly watch the interaction as she cast the hanyou a concerned, furtive glance, "You know, about the jewel shards. I heard a rumor there's one a little North of here."

"Did you now?" InuYasha commented in a bored tone as he sent the miko a knowing, patient look that clearly said he smelled bullshit, "And when _exactly_ did you hear that?"

"You _were_ out for two days," Kagome pointed out as sapphire met amber - raising a single eyebrow she continued, "We were looking for a jewel shard before then, don't you remember?"

"That wasn't North of here," InuYasha snorted as he rolled his eyes and turned his attention back towards the small hearth in the middle of Kaede's hut, "You must've heard wrong."

"There is more than just _one_ shard, InuYasha, or did you _forget_?" Kagome huffed in mild exasperation before narrowing her eyes suspiciously, "Don't you always throw a fit when we don't follow _every_ lead?"

"Not if they're _stupid_," InuYasha countered before sniffing pointedly and getting to his feet, "I'm going to check the perimeter. I'll be back."

Truth be told, he knew Kagome was lying by her scent alone. He always knew how she was feeling...what she was thinking by her scent. Not always and most certainly not exactly but...she reeked of ginger when she lied. So strongly it almost burned his nose. Tatami and rice when she was calm. A hint of leather whenever she was thinking of home in her era. A hint of freshly cut grass whenever she wanted to take a bath. Subtle notes of newly overturned dirt when she wanted him to pick her up because her feet hurt. Dashi when she was sad with a hint of yuzu when she was sad because of something _he_ did. Stress and fear made her reek of eggs - not rotten thank god but _eggs_. Natto when she was angry. Again, add yuzu whenever she was mad at him. Sometimes mad over the fact that he wouldn't eat the eggs she'd made for him even though the smell of the damn things made him sick thinking of all the times she was afraid or stressed. Sakura and rice when she was concerned or worried - not stressed but _concerned_. Sugi cedar when she was happy. A hint of that signature citrus when she was happy _because_ of him. Whenever she thought of him, she usually smelled at least a little like that. Crisp. Clean. Tart. It was as refreshing as it was maddening. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why she smelled like that when she thought of him. She didn't smell different when thinking of Miroku or Sango or even Shippo.

Right now though, all he knew was that she was lying to him because she was afraid for him. She was sad and concerned because he wasn't telling her what was wrong. Still, despite all that, there was also an undertone - however subtle it might be at the moment - of cedar. But why the hell was she _happy_? Because he woke up or was there something else?

All in all it was an extremely nauseating combination that had him wanting to tear down the hut just to get away. No one person should be able to feel all that at once. How the hell did she even function?

'_Avoiding the inevitable will get you nowhere,_' the voice taunted as InuYasha left the hut and began to run, '_These so-called friends of yours would help you on the path to greatness. To world domination. Once consumed, their strengths would...'_

"Shut up," InuYasha hissed as he shook his head violently - like that alone would somehow dislodge the voice, "You picked the wrong time to try that shit. Fifty years ago I _maybe_ would've listened but now? No chance. I'm not like you. Never was."

'_Ah but I am you and you are me,' _the voice taunted - attempting to come at him from a different angle to get the poor boy to do its bidding, '_These thoughts are yours and yours alone.'_

"I am _not_ like you," InuYasha repeated angrily as he wrinkled his nose in disgust - taking a dramatic left turn to run into the nearby treeline. If it came to a power struggle between him and his demon half, he sure as hell wanted to put some distance between himself and the village. It was the only rational explanation for hearing this voice he could imagine...that he could _accept_. If it wasn't his full demon self, after all, then that meant he was losing his mind and...and...

'_Ah, what a waste it is to lose one's mind when you had so little of one to begin with,'_ the voice continued - a little stronger and more confident sounding...like he'd latched onto something which made InuYasha increasingly nervous, '_How long will you keep this up, hm? Are you so ashamed of this part of you that you refuse to acknowledge it? That you let that girl control you? Those friends weigh you down with their inconsequential struggles? They keep you chained like a common dog. They fear you. She fears you. That is why...'_

_"_Kagome is _not_ afraid of me. She'd take them off if I asked," InuYasha bluffed as he slowed to a stop- knowing damn well the beads had broken before and she'd found a way to put the blasted things back on, "I just never..."

'_Would she now? Why not ask then, hm?_' the voice taunted - laughing cruelly when InuYasha didn't respond, '_You're afraid of the truth. That she'd refuse. That she fears who you are. Who you really are.'_

"Shut up," InuYasha huffed as he rolled his eyes and began pointedly walking away from the village - desperate to gain distance in case the voice...his inner demon...took control, "I know what you're doing. Been manipulated by enough assholes for one lifetime. I'm not falling for that shit again."

'_This hunger will consume you,_' the voice continued - seemingly changing angles once more, '_Eat you away piece by piece until you're an inch from death and then I will be the one in control. Stripping her flesh. Consuming everything you hold dear. Unless, of course, you come to your senses. What's one nameless villager compared to the girl you love?'_

"Again, nice try. Give me a little credit," InuYasha snorted dismissively even as unease blossomed in his heart, "I'm not like you. You're just some..."

"InuYasha? Where are you?" Kagome's distant voice filtered through the dense forest - her tone taking on a playful note as she called out in mock fear, "Oh _no_. I'm all alone in the forest without any arrows. A demon could come find me at any moment. _Whatever_ will I do. If _only_ there was someone to protect me..."

'_Consider it,_' the voice offered in a bored tone as InuYasha turned to move towards Kagome's location - trying his best to ignore the dark chuckle that added menancingly, '_Make your choice. Before I take matters into my own hands.'_


	5. T

_I am the one hiding under your bed_

_Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red_

_I am the one hiding under your stairs_

_Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

_In this town we call home_

_Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Something Strange

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sixty years ago he left his home in a torrent of ash and smoke- the earth starved of light and clean air.

The volcano had been simmering for quite some time as it had long ago in the past. White wisps rose like the smoke that gave away a distant fire. The sides were much like any other mountain, covered with old growth forests, the farmland below was fertile and around it are the very flammable homes the humans had built. Despite not knowing what lay outside his iron rich home, he had made a decision when the magma erupted. A regrettable decision but a decision nonetheless. To explore the dominion he had thus far ignored. A world he quickly discovered he was unable to survive without another rich source of iron.

Animals were far too weak - lasting mere hours before another had to be sought. Demons, for the most part, instinctively avoided him - never coming close enough for him to use their much more resilient bodies. Humans, however, were slow, curious, easy to influence and lasted much longer. Humans were also, unfortunately, prone to rejecting his form. Silly creatures whose weak bodies disliked foreign bodies invading them.

This new host, however, seemed to regenerate just as quickly as he was eaten away - a pleasant change but one that was slowing ever so slightly with each passing day. Unwilling to adapt to his body's new needs, the host's ability to heal was slowing. Unless this stubborn nonsensical obsession with morality was cured, this host too would die and the cycle would need to begin again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

InuYasha squirmed uncomfortably to try to silence the rumbling as his stomach growled even louder than it had only a few moments before. Pain came in waves and it seemed as though his stomach was slowly digesting itself. Food was quickly becoming an obsession. At this point, he'd eat _anything_. He didn't even care if it was actually edible or not so long it ended the gnawing pain growing steadily in his gut. Inuyasha clutched at it, pulling it this way and that in an attempt to silence the deafening gurgles but to no avail. He was _starving_ but what else could he really expect after not eating for nearly a week. Still, the reason he hadn't eaten anything is that the voice was back with vengeance - continuing to demand he eat things he'd never in a million years consider. Part demon he may be but he'd never stoop so low as to hunt humans for sustenance. Maybe he wouldn't eat just _anything_. At least, not yet.

Chuckling darkly, his lips twitched upwards at the thought that - at least in this regard - he had the one up on Koga who - prior to meeting Kagome - regularly ate human flesh. In fact, the wolves were known for it.

"Justify that one to Kagome you bastard," InuYasha mumbled to himself as he felt a brief moment of superiority and tried to distract himself from the worrisome voice reverberating in his head, "Least I got that in my favor."

"You have what in your favor?" the last voice he wanted to hear in that moment asked timidly as the smell of ramen drifted into his nose and his stomach lurched desperately at the scent. Cursing himself for not realizing she was there sooner, InuYasha merely opted for a silent glare as he remained stubbornly where he was - ignoring the voice taunting him...compelling him to do the unthinkable.

'_Yell all you want but that ain't happening," _InuYasha thought bitterly as his head began to pound and his stomach growled so loudly he was sure Kagome could hear it.

"What the hell do you want?" InuYasha hissed more harshly than he intended as he glared down at the worried looking girl hatefully.

"You didn't eat lunch," Kagome offered as she held up the ramen and chopsticks with a small smile, "So I thought you might be hungry."

'_You don't know the half of it,'_ InuYasha thought bitterly as he remained where he was and folded his arms across his chest. For once in his life, the smell of ramen did nothing for him. Well that wasn't quite true. It did make him feel queasy.

"I ain't hungry," he spat back as he closed his eyes and tried his best to look relaxed, "So you can just take that shit and go."

"I can hear your stomach from here," Kagome huffed in exasperation as she gave him a worried look and sighed, "Listen, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it. You don't need to keep _avoiding_ me. If you want to go to that party with me, you..."

"Why the hell would I want to go anywhere with you?" InuYasha spat back - hoping he sounded convincing. He needed her to leave. To get away from him. Slowly but surely the longer she stood there the louder the voice became - demanding he leap down there and...

"InuYasha , I said I didn't mean it. Why do you have to be so stubborn? I want you to go _and_ I already apolo..." Kagome began hotly before InuYasha cut her off with such menace that it was all she do to gape at him.

"Why the hell cant you ever just leave me alone?! Wait, I _know_ why!" he snarled as he landed in front of her and angry words began pouring out like vomit, "Unlike you, _I'm_ not _stupid_ Kagome! Get it through your head! I sure as hell ain't interested so leave me the _hell_ alone!"

As she moved her mouth wordlessly, InuYasha thought she looked as shocked as he felt. What the _hell_ was wrong with him?! He'd only meant...well, he wanted to piss her off so she'd drop the subject and go to her world without him. He meant he wasn't interested in going to the _party_. Never, _never_ did he mean to imply that he wasn't interested in _her_. Talk about setting yourself up for rejection - judging by her shocked reaction she'd taken his words as meaning he thought she was interested in _him_ and that...that he didn't...

Not that it mattered. Awkward though this conversation was about to become, she ultimately didn't feel that way about him so...so...

As he took in her reaction, though, he faltered and realized he might have been wrong on that front. Or at least, _had_ been wrong as he noticed the spark of righteous anger that flashed in her eye.

"For someone who _is_ stupid you sure figured _that_ out quickly," Kagome clipped back as she held her arms rigidly by her side - anger overriding any embarrassment as she continued hotly, "_Yeah_. I like you and wanted you to be my date. So sue me. But if you think for one _second_ that gives you..."

"Wait what?" InuYasha blurted as his brain flat lined - the entire predicament that led to this moment retreating to the far recesses of his mind as he blinked stupidly at her. Kagome liked him? Like...liked him liked him. Right? Isn't that what she meant? **_Isn't it?_**!

"You like me?" he asked in a more innocent - almost _hopeful_ \- tone than Kagome had ever heard escape his lips - his ravenous hunger completely forgotten as he desperately searched her face for the answer he prayed he'd find there.

"What do you mean do I...wait, what..what did _you_ mean?" Kagome faltered as what she said registered and the anger fueled confidence she felt vanished, "Uh, you see, when I said _like_, uh, I meant..."

"Oh, no no no no. You said you _liked_ me. That you wanted me to be your _date_," InuYasha cut her off a little more confidently as he narrowed his eyes and pressed, "So do you?"

"Do I what?" Kagome asked wearily as she prayed the ground reached up to swallow her whole or that some miko-hating demon burst out of nowhere hell bent on killing her. Something, _anything_ to distract the hanyou from focusing on her tragic foot in mouth moment.

"Like me. Not as a _friend_ or anything. Like how a boy likes a girl," InuYasha huffed in frustration as anger quickly began overriding his shock when she merely cringed instead of responding, "Just answer the damn question already."

"InuYasha, can't we just forget what I said?" Kagome begged softly as she stared at him like a rabbit caught in a trap, "I just...I don't want this to affect our friendship, okay? Just...just..."

"So you _do_ like me," InuYasha concluded triumphantly as a big shit eating grin burst across his face and his chest puffed up victoriously, "More than _Koga_. More than _Hojo_. You. Like. _Me_."

"_Oh god,_" Kagome groaned softly before she rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, "Can we just forget what I..."

"So what's a date?" InuYasha interrupted ignoring her obvious discomfort. If his hunch was correct, this bitch of a day might be taking a turn for the better.

"A date is...a date is when, um...two people go out. _Together_," Kagome mumbled weakly - hoping her vague explanation would satisfy him. There'd be no living with him after this.

"Two people who _like_ each other," InuYasha corrected as his increasingly feral grin grew impossibly wider and he stated more than asked, "And you wanted to do _that_ with _me_."

"Can we _please_ move on?" Kagome begged as she prayed for a quick, painless death. This was quickly becoming the most humiliating moment of her life. He didn't like her. He just said he wasn't interested so why was he dragging this out when he was only setting her up for a big...

"Why didn't you just say that?" InuYasha scoffed as he rolled his eyes and his manic grin finally faded into a much less creepy smile.

"Wait, what?" Kagome blurted - mimicking Inuyasha's earlier look of shock as her head spun from all the mixed signals, "You'd want...what are you saying?"

"You like me. I like you. Let's have one of these date things," InuYasha announced confidently as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before his ears lowered incrementally when Kagome merely stared at him like her brain short circuited. Maybe...maybe he'd misread what she meant. She was being evasive and...oh god, what if he just ruined everything?

"I mean...if you want to," InuYasha backpedaled as he cleared his throat and continued trying to look as confident as he had a moment ago. The longer Kagome gaped at him the further his stomach dropped until he honestly felt like he was going to vomit. Yup, he'd ruined everything. He might as well kiss carrying her goodbye. She'd always think he was just doing it to feel her up. Inevitable delays aside, he actually enjoyed carrying her - not in a perverted way but in a 'hey you trust me enough to be close to me' type of way. Speaking of trust, those moments where he felt he could trust her enough and she him? Where he could tell her things he never told anyone? So long sucker. If she didn't make a run for the well and didn't come back, he'd be a monkey sprites uncle. As his chest began to subtly rise and fall in mild panic and despair, his confident look vanished to be replaced by a even more subtle cringe. Why had he done this? Him and his big mouth getting carried away yet again. A moment turned into a tense silence that seemed to drag on endlessly before Kagome finally seemed to come back to her senses.

"You like me?" she managed to whisper quietly as she swallowed thickly. Her voice cracked slightly as she clarified, "I can't...I can't tell if this is a trick or not. I...I mean, you do understand what..."

"Do you want me to court you or not?" InuYasha snapped as his insecurities were fanned into a flame, "Why do you always gotta make shit so hard? Like I'd try and trick you _ever_. I _just_ said..."

Blinking at him for a moment, Kagome's own shock faded as indignation arrived, "Why do _I_ have to make it hard? How about why do _you_?! You just told me you weren't interested and now...If you knew all this time, why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't _you_ say anything?" InuYasha countered defensively as he set his jaw and glared, "This is the crap I'm talking about! All I meant was I didn't want to go to the damn party! Besides, I don't know how the hell you hadn't figured out I liked you! You see me chasing away every guy who likes _Sango_? Do I carry anyone _else_ everywhere unless I gotta? I even tell you I _need_ you! What more do you want from me?!"

"I beg your pardon! All I know is that you chase after Kikyo all the time! What was I supposed to think?" Kagome argued as her cheeks flushed a very pretty shade of pink, "And you insult me all the time. Call me weak and ugly and..."

"I've _never_ said you were ugly!" InuYasha clipped back defensively as he threw up a hand in exasperation, "And I offend damn near everyone. That's what I do. You're not weak, okay? Happy now?"

"_No_!" Kagome bellowed as she placed her hands on her hips and glared, "You go around for two years chasing after your dead ex-girlfriend and I'm just supposed to think you liked me all along? Not buying it."

"I don't _chase_ her. She just keeps showing up!" InuYasha pointed out as he rolled his eyes, "Besides what I am _supposed_ to do? I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't. Just because I'm not in love with her anymore doesn't mean I _hate_ her now."

"Oh _please_..." Kagome began to argue before a mischievous and entirely too amused voice suddenly called out from the nearby bushes.

"Just kiss already. We're getting _bored_," Shippo's teasing voice rang out followed by a scandalized gasp that sounded suspiciously like the slayer.

As Kagome blushed and watched InuYasha for his reaction, the hanyou found himself disturbed in more ways than one. He had missed not only his friend's approach but their scents as well. Something wasn't right.

'_For what it's worth,_ _I, for one, must agree with you. I like her as well,_' the voice inside his head chuckled darkly as the hunger he'd been feeling began to make itself known again, '_ Perhaps the girl doesn't need to die quite yet.'_

Swallowing thickly, InuYasha tried to force an entirely unconvincing smile at the miko who gave him a look that clearly said she knew something was wrong.


	6. M

_In this town, don't we love it now?_

_Everybody's waiting for the next surprise_

_'Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can_

_Something's waiting no to pounce, and how you'll_

_Scream! This is Halloween_

_Red 'n' black, and slimy green_

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_"_Not until you tell me what's going on," Kagome huffed as she folded her arms across her chest in a very InuYasha-like fashion, "You won't eat even though your stomach sounds like a monster truck. You keep spacing out and muttering to yourself then acting like nothing happened. You haven't brought up jewel shards once. Now tell me."

"A monster truck," InuYasha snorted as he gave her an odd look, "What makes you think I know what that even means?"

"Nope. Nice try," Kagome countered as she huffed once more and glared, "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothings wrong," InuYasha lied even as he scratched his nose in his signature tell, "You're imagining things."

"Fine," Kagome countered as she turned to grab something from her backpack and marched up to him - thrusting a bag of potato chips under his nose, "Then eat these."

"If I eat these, you'll drop it?" InuYasha snorted derisively as he gave her a patient look, "That's your test to make sure I'm alright? That's stupid Kagome. That's really..."

"If it's stupid, shouldn't be a problem then should it?" Kagome replied as she gave him an appraising look and dangled the potato chips by a corner, "Eat them."

"Maybe I will," InuYasha sneered although he made no move to take the small bag from the miko.

"Then do it," Kagome retorted as she raised a single brow in silent challenge - moving her hand so the bag swayed gently.

"I'm gunna."

"Okay then."

"I'll eat them all. Every damn bag you got in that monstrosity of yours."

"Nothing would make me happier."

"I'll do it."

"I want you to."

"I'm warning ya."

"And I'm saying I don't care. Eat the chips InuYasha," Kagome finally huffed in exasperation - the look she gave him a mix between triumph that she was right and deep concern that something was wrong. Something he wouldn't tell her.

"Just tell me what's wrong," Kagome sighed as she gave him an imploring look, "And don't give me the '_I'll heal on my own'_ line. I can tell whatever it is is bothering you. Let me help."

"You can't help me," InuYasha muttered as he averted his eyes, "Not with this."

"What is '_this_' then?" the miko asked quietly as she reached up to cup his face and force him to look at her, "Don't you trust me?"

'_Go on. Tell her you're hearing voices. That you want to feast on human flesh. How will she take it I wonder? Will she reject you?_' the voice taunted in a cruel, low tone, '_It is possible she may not. She appears to be strong. Perhaps even more so than you. Imagine it. The taste of her-"_

"No," InuYasha gasped softly as his eyes widened in mild panic only to feel the warmth of Kagome's hand vanish - the scent of building tears burning his senses as he realized what he'd just done.

"I mean, no it's not that I, uh, don't trust you," InuYasha scrambled desperately as he reached out and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from storming off, "Its just...just it's nothing, okay? I'm fine. Just a, uh, stomach ache is all."

"A stomach ache," Kagome repeated as she gave him a look that told him she knew he was lying even as he nodded once and gave her imploring look. Like he was trying to silently communicate something else was going on...something much worse. Maybe he was worried someone...or _something_ would overhear.

"If that's all," Kagome began slowly as she glanced around and furrowed her brow, "Um, why don't we go to my house? I'm sure Mama has some medicine you could try. And then the party is coming up. It'd give you a chance to rest and..."

"I'm not going there! Are you _insane_?!" InuYasha blurted out in mild panic - ignoring the voice laughing at his outburst as he cringed and tried to do damage control, "I mean..."

"Okay, what's going on?" Kagome groaned as she rolled her eyes, "I _know_ you _want_ to go. You made that _super_ clear earlier. Something's wrong and I'm not going to let this go until you tell me what it is."

"You don't get it, do ya?" InuYasha bellowed angrily - the stress of the situation finally getting to him, "Why can't you leave well enough alone?"

"Of course I don't get it! You won't tell me what's going on! You _never_ let _anyone_ help you and I'm _done_!" Kagome huffed as she met his heated gaze head on, "Now so help me if you _don't_..."

"There's a _voice_, okay?" InuYasha spat back - the mild panic that Kagome said she was '_done_' overriding any fears he had on admitting what was really going on, "There's a god damn voice telling me to do shit I don't wanna do and I don't know what you can fucking do about it! There? _Happy_?"

"You're hearing voices?" Kagome whispered in a worried tone as Inuyasha's eyes widened in horror - the reality of what he's just admitted hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"I, uh...it's not that...that..." InuYasha stuttered as he desperately tried to backpedal, "I'm not crazy or...or nothing. Just...just it might be good for...for..."

'_Good job moron,_' he mentally berated himself as he cringed under her increasingly worried look, '_Why the hell did you tell her that?! God, maybe I am stupid.'_

_"_What are they telling you to do?" Kagome asked quietly - obviously trying to project calm as InuYasha looked increasingly nervous, "Are they telling you to hurt people?"

Nodding curtly, InuYasha sighed as he glared at the ground angrily. That was technically true. The voice was telling him to eat people - which would definitely involve hurting them.

"I'm not crazy," InuYasha huffed as he finally cast her a fleeting glance to gauge her reaction before chickening out and glaring at the ground once more. Why was it like everything in his god damn life that whenever something _good_ happened it was always followed by...

"I know you're not. And this started that morning in the forest?" Kagome stated more than asked - still obviously trying to keep her tone neutral. Like that didn't sound like she thought he was batshit.

Stubbornly refusing to add fuel to this dumpster fire of a conversation, InuYasha opted for silence rather than contributing further to the grave he was digging himself.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Kagome began slowly before she moved closer and reached up to cup his chin to force him to look at her, "It's going to be okay, alright. I think...I think whatever has been attack-..._possessing_ people...got to you. But the good news is that you're able to fight it. It might tell you to hurt people...hurt me...but you haven't. We're going to figure it out. Together."

"What if I can't control it?" InuYasha finally asked after a tense silence as he accepted the fact that only hell would drive her away now. Stupid woman, always coming up with the _worst_ ideas. This never would've happened if...

"You'd never hurt me," Kagome comforted as she ran her thumb across his cheek, "And I think...I _know_ that's how you're fighting it. Come home with me."

"That's a terrible..." InuYasha scoffed as he tried to move away only to find her grip tightened on his chin.

"Come home with me," Kagome repeated firmly as she gave him a determined look before adding in a teasing tone, "Worst case scenario you can't control yourself I'll just purify the crap out of you."

"Ain't that comforting," InuYasha muttered as a faint spark of playfulness sparked in his amber eyes, "Worst case you kill me."

"If Mt. Hakurei couldn't kill you, I doubt I could," Kagome laughed once as she gave him a relived look - knowing he was considering her request, "Worst case you turn human. Best case by purifying you we kill whatever is causing the voices and..."

"Voice," InuYasha corrected softly as he glanced at her before averting his eyes - Kagome's momentary look at surprise not going unoticed, "It's just one."

"One little voice. That's not so bad," Kagome offered with a small smile she hoped was reassuring as her own heart fluttered slightly at the trust he had in her. Not only had he trusted her with the truth of the situation - even if it was clear he was still withholding something - but by doing so, he made her infinitely happy.

"Come home with me. I have an idea."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The store was wedged between two taller buildings. It looked squeezed, as if the neighbors were closing in. The sign was old, some letters had become illegible in the peeling paint. It looked like the last place they were going to find answers. It looked like shit.

"_This_ was your brilliant idea?" InuYasha snorted as he rolled his eyes, "_Please_ explain you me how this is gunna fix this shit because this makes no damn sense."

"You're hungry, right? For stuff you can't or won't tell me," Kagome began as she sent him a happy grin, "So where better to figure it out than a grocery store?"

"That's stupid," InuYasha clipped back even as he admitted to himself he was willing to try literally anything. He had never been so hungry in his life. Not when he was a child and his mother died and he was literally starving to death. He'd gladly take the pain of starvation at this point. It felt like every organ in his body was slowly being eaten away with each monstrous grumble of his stomach. He knew, just knew, that this was going to be a waste of god damn time that was only going to lead to more uncomfortable questions from the miko. Still, no matter what happened he'd never stoop to eating human flesh. He'd rather die.

"Is it? Is it though?" Kagome teased - not letting his obvious irritation bother her. They had to get to the bottom of this. Most likely it was something he thought was beneath him or that he thought would disgust her. Hell, at this point she'd be happy to see him munching on cow manure if that's really what he was wanting so long as he ate something. He already was looking skinnier than he had just a few hours ago. A yellow tinge was leaking into his eyes. Dark circles under his eyes that she'd never witnessed making him look gaunt and ragged. Boy needed to eat something and soon. One less obstacle to curing him.

"Just trust me," Kagome sighed as the hanyou stubbornly refused to move, "We've already ruled out your usual favorites. There has to be something in here you'd eat."

'_Indeed there is_,' the voice taunted as InuYasha cringed. It was getting louder, more demanding, harder to ignore. He wanted to tell it to go to hell and so he did.

"You don't need to be rude," Kagome huffed as her smile faded and she gave him a patient look that irked him to no end.

"I didn't even do anything woman," InuYasha snapped as he gestured at the store, "This isn't..."

"You told me to go to hell!" Kagome hissed before giving a forced smile to an elderly couple passing by and continuing in a quieter tone, "It was just an...an..."

There was something in his expression that stopped her mid-rant. Fear maybe? Or surprise. Maybe even shock. Realization dawned on her as he opened his mouth to speak...or yell.

"You weren't talking to me were you," Kagome stated more than asked as she gave him a sympathetic smile and sighed when his silence gave her the answer.

"We need a code," Kagome sighed heavily before explaining when a confused looking InuYasha merely stared at her, "For when you hear the voice. That way we can keep track of how often you hear it and I'll know if you're talking to me or not."

"No," InuYasha clipped back as the voice chuckled menacingly, "I'm not doing that."

"See here we have a problem," Kagome countered, "Were you talking to me or the voice? Because I honestly can't tell."

"Bitch you know I'm talking to you," InuYasha spat back defensively, "I'm not doing that because it's stupid."

"Why do you have to make things so hard? I don't mean anything big just something like...like..." Kagome huffed in exasperation, "Like tapping your nose or scratching your ear. Something subtle. I'm not asking you to scream 'I hear it'."

_'Ah, but I'm always here aren't I? I'm part of you,' _the voice taunted as InuYasha cringed, _'Will she reject you when she discovers how completely we're bound?'_

"Never," InuYasha whispered under his breath - the truth of that admission surprising him and giving him confidence as he turned a determined look at the miko - deciding right then and there he was going to be honest. She deserved to know. Needed to know. And frankly he needed someoneto take charge because he felt like he was losing his damn mind.

"It's always there," he admitted as he let out a shaky breath - his tone going from a forced calm to angry faster than Kagome could blink, "Always. So stop tryin' to help with this! Ain't a damn thing you can do about it! I don't give two shits if I starve to death! There ain't gunna be a damn thing in this stupid store that it'll like unless people in your era got a market for _human **flesh**_."

For a moment, Kagome merely gaped at him - leading InuYasha to immediately regret telling her before, much to his shock and alarm, she smiled and shrugged.

"So meat then," Kagome hummed thoughtfully as she reached out to take his hand and lead him into the store, "Raw meat. I doubt sushi will cover it because that has rice in it. Probably doesn't like rice. Steak maybe. Or liver. Something with a lot of calories."

"Calories?! What the fuck are- Did you even hear the words coming out of my mouth?" InuYasha snapped as he stared at the back of her head incredulously but otherwise allowed her to lead him into the store, "It wants..."

"What it wants doesn't matter. It means you're _not_ crazy," Kagome interrupted as she glanced over her shoulder and grinned, "It means that whatever it was that was killing those people did possess you. So unless you want to be a puddle of goo you'll come with me and make an effort."

"Kagome..." InuYasha groaned as he rolled his eyes, "You can be so stupid. It's this type of shit that gets you kidnapped every other day. You know that right?"

"Maybe," Kagome laughed softly before humming in a happier tone than he'd heard all day, "I do seem to get kidnapped a lot, don't I?"

"How can you act like me wanting to eat humans is a good thing?" InuYasha continued to protest - gently prying his hand out of her grip, "I could come after you or something."

"It's not great but you'd never hurt me. Even when you go all full demon, you've never hurt me," Kagome pointed out - gesturing over her shoulder for him to follow as she continued, "Just stay with me and I'm sure we can figure this out."

"You're insane," InuYasha huffed as he trailed behind her and glared, "You never leave well enough alone."

"Nope," Kagome giggled as she glanced around a small refrigerated booth and began to hold up various plastic covered packages under his nose for inspection. She didn't pick up all the meat the market had to offer though. As it turned out, utterly disgusting, slimy, wriggling, glistening live eel wasn't the worst thing ever. For Inuyasha anyway. Kagome wanted to puke the instant he took a bite.


	7. A

_Aren't you scared?_

_Well, that's just fine_

_Say it once, say it twice_

_Take a chance and roll the dice_

_Ride with the moon in the dead of night_

_Everybody scream, everybody scream_

_In our town of Halloween!_

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Humming happily as he stretched lazily onto the floor of Kagome's bedroom, InuYasha had to admit the woman was right. Eating had definitely improved his predicament. The voice had gone silent, the pain of starvation had subsided and he felt so relaxed he was very much tempted to pass out from exhaustion. The only downside was that Kagome was still hovering - as though she expected him to snap at any moment.

He believed her when she said she didn't think any different of him despite what he'd told her. He did. Still, her constant worrying was driving him crazy. Her mother too was concerned - especially after they came back home with a bag filled with live eels that needed storing with little to no explanation. When he'd eaten another handful in front of everyone, poor Sota had straight up puked all over the kitchen floor.

It didn't matter though. Not really. He was so tired he couldn't find it in him to care. All he wanted was to sleep. At least Kagome's era was safe. No demons would be sniffing around. No humans trying to abduct anyone in the name of saving Kagome from him. All in all it was...

A soft sound outside on the door tore him from his thoughts before Kagome cracked the door open and peeked in. Her slightly disappointed and worried look telling him all he needed to know.

"Hey, you feeling any better?" Kagome asked quietly as she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She had hoped leaving him alone for an hour would be enough to get him to rest but unfortunately it appeared that wasn't the case.

"You could've slept on the bed," she pointed out as she took in his position on the floor, "That can't be comfortable."

"Gettin' late," he yawned before settling down onto his back and idly scratching his chest, "Can't both sleep on your bed."

"I'll sleep on the floor then," Kagome countered as she raised an eyebrow in silent challenge, "Or we can both sleep on the bed. Your choice."

"You want me to _sleep _with you?" Inuyasha snorted as he propped himself up and gave her a mischievous grin, "I didn't take you for that type of girl."

"Wait, _no_," Kagome blanched as she blushed furiously - finding herself once again praying for a quick death as she stammered in a humiliated tone, "I just meant...well, you're hurt and..."

"Relax Kagome," Inuyasha hummed in an amused tone, "I know that ain't what you meant."

"That wasn't funny," Kagome huffed - the blush still present as she moved to her closet to grab a set of pajamas, "I'm going to get ready for bed. If you want to sleep on the floor, that's your decision. Don't complain to me when you wake up sore."

"Hanyou don't _get_ sore woman," Inuyasha called after her - smirking as he heard her huff of frustration and the door to the bathroom close a little more forcefully than usual. Sprawling back out against the carpet, Inuyasha scratched idly at his chest and closed his eyes. He'd admit the prospect of sharing a bed with Kagome was tempting. A little too tempting if he was being honest. Still, just because he was feeling more in control at the moment didn't mean that it was over. There was still signs that whatever was bubbling below the surface wasn't done with him quite yet. He could swear he could feel the blood in his veins moving a little more sluggishly than usual. His heart was still beating like he'd just run clear across Japan. Every once in a while a wave of exhaustion would hit him and it took actual effort to keep his eyes open. The voice wasn't there though - apparently satisfied by the influx of food into his system.

"So the floor then," Kagome commented sourly as she came back into her bedroom dressed in a soft pink pajama set - the billowy pants and oversized shirt hiding her figure and reminding Inuyasha of the traditional garb for men in his era. In many ways, he preferred this look to her usual _'one sized hides nothing' _uniform. Not that _he _minded a scantily clad Kagome but...

"You should wear stuff like that more often," Inuyasha commented lazily as he watched her brush her hair out. Pausing for a moment, Kagome gave him a strange glance before continuing what she was doing.

"PJs? And why is that?" she asked before wincing when she hit a particularly nasty tangle at the back of her head.

"I'm not saying wear that. Just stuff _like _it," Inuyasha yawned as he rolled over onto his stomach and rested his head on his arms, "You know. Pants or something. Less skin."

"_Excuse _me?" Kagome hissed as the stopped brushing her and pointed is accusingly at the hanyou who had immediately stiffened at her tone, "Do you have a problem with my uniform?"

"All I said was that you should wear pants," Inuyasha huffed as he rolled over and propped himself up, "Don't know how you even fight in that thing you wear. Doesn't cover nothing."

"Are you saying I dress slutty? It's a school uniform. For young girls. What's the problem with it?" Kagome clipped back as she folded her arms across her chest, "Would you rather me dress up in traditional miko clothing?"

Cringing mentally at the image of Kagome dressed like Kikyo, Inuyasha merely glared instead of replying. Didn't she get it? They were together now. She couldn't go around basically advertising.

"S'not my fault if your era has a problem with _modesty_," Inuyasha snapped back, "You think Koga wanted you to be his mate because of your winning personality? No! He wanted you because the way you dress screams..."

"Choose your next words _very _carefully," Kagome warned as she gripped the brush so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"All I'm saying is you should wear something more practical," Inuyasha murmured as he rolled his eyes - knowing full well she'd never sit him if she thought it'd hurt him. Well, okay not if she thought it would hurt him. If he was hurt. Which he wasn't per se. He could see the cogs turning in Kagome's mind as she pursed her lips and glared until ultimately she let out a very defeated sounding sigh and turned away to continue preparing for bed.

It was several minutes later - after he'd almost fallen asleep that she spoke again.

"I think it might be a type of parasite. You know, like how people get worms," Kagome commented idly as she glanced over her shoulder and frowned, "It would explain why you were losing weight and why those people turned to mush. Parasites live off their host and eat off them to survive. Some parasites can even control the minds of their victims. We have to get Buyo checked for something called toxoplasmosis every year. Cats get it from rats that are basically forced to commit suicide."

"You made that up," Inuyasha huffed skeptically from his place sprawled out on the ground - not even bothering to move from his comfortable position, "That ain't real."

"No, no, it's true," Kagome insisted as she grabbed some lotion and began applying it to her hands and arms, "The rats walk right up to cats so they can get eaten. I googled it after Buyo tested positive. It was a whole thing."

"Never heard of a worm that can literally turn people into puddles," Inuyasha snorted - unease over the entire situation putting him on edge, "Besides, I'm pretty sure the voice is just my demon half and I sure as hell ain't gunna get me to do shit."

"I'm not sure its your demon half," Kagome replied thoughtfully as she began moving towards her bed and sat down on the edge, "Has your demon half ever..."

"If I asked you to remove the beads, would you?" Inuyasha asked - so quietly Kagome almost missed it. Blinking once in surprise, Kagome opened her mouth to reply before taking note of the way he was avoiding looking directly at her. Yes, she knew he hated the beads and she was woman enough to admit she abused them. A little. He didn't need them. Still, they were proof of their bond.

_'They're called beads of subjugation for a reason_,' she thought sadly as she furrowed her brow and sighed, _'A way to control him. But...but I don't want to control him. I love him exactly as he is.'_

"Do you want me to take them off?" Kagome asked softly - guilt flooding her system as she bit her lower lip, "If you want them off, I'll take them off. I probably should've done that ages ago but..."

Smiling secretly, Inuyasha felt validated and the remaining tension in his muscles relaxed. He knew she'd take them off if he asked. The fact that she'd said she'd do it proving beyond any reasonable doubt that she trusted him. Whatever that voice was trying to prove, it failed spectacularly. Still, given that he might have some parasite worm thing invading his being or his inner demon was trying to take control taking them off now might cause more problems than any it might solve. Especially since it had tried to manipulate him into getting them off in the first place.

"Not right now. Probably a bad idea," he murmured sleepily as he adjusted himself and hummed happily, "Just wanted to know."

"Just tell me when you want them off," Kagome sighed softly - pausing before adding, "I'm sorry I use them so often."

"S'okay. Deserve it sometimes," Inuyasha yawned as he struggled to stay awake.

"Not always," Kagome murmured - more to herself than him before asking in a slightly scared voice, "Does it hurt? When I use them, does it hurt?"

"Not really," Inuyasha sighed as he looked up just enough to give her a lazy smirk, "Takes more than some stupid beads to hurt me. I'm built of tougher stuff than you humans."

"I know," Kagome replied affectionately as she gave him a warm smile in return and patted the bed, "Offer still stands. My bed is really comfy."

"I'll think about it," Inuyasha chuckled tiredly before closing his eyes, "Don't be surprised if I'm there in the morning."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure?" a middle aged man hissed as he leaned forward across the oak table and narrowed his eyes, "A demon in plain sight?"

"I know what I saw. Silver hair. Claws. Fangs. Took a bite of a live eel after the girl kept shoving raw meat under his nose," the young woman clipped back as she ran her fingers through her long ebony hair in frustration, "The audacity of it all. Not even bothering to hide what he is and that girl...I think she's a miko. Lives at a shrine. Powerful but young. Untrained."

"And too trusting. If raw meat is why he's after, he's too dangerous to go ignored," the man hummed as he furrowed his brow in concern, "I don't know how we missed him. We have men all over the city. Lazy _mother_..."

"It's been a busy month. Had to track down and take out at least six demons," the woman defended hotly, "It's not like they're doing nothing."

"This is different. Every demon worth his salt knows who we are and what we do. For two centuries now, our order has successfully protected the city against their kind. He's taunting us. He knows and he doesn't care. Going out in the open like that without even trying to disguise his true form," the man countered, "It's a challenge. Maybe even a declaration of war."

"You're being overdramatic. The demon is young and in traditional garb. He's probably banking on it being Halloween and wanted to have some fun playing the human. Everyone will just assume it's a costume. I'd bet my life on it that there's a party he wants to crash. Alcoholism is a plague amongst their kind," the woman sighed - her chocolate eyes closing as she huffed in frustration, "Either way, he's a moron. An easy kill if it weren't for the girl. She might know if we try the usual spiritual attacks. We'll need to use other methods."

"The girl is a problem. You said she wore a school uniform?" the man asked after a tense moment, "Did you recognize the colors?"

"Yeah. I think Yui has a son there," the woman murmured as she glanced around the dingy room and wrinkled her nose, "Time is short. We need to move quickly before he disappears on us. I'd hate to spend the next month trying to hunt him down. Teenage rebellion in demons can be a dangerous, dangerous thing. They're foolish and impulsive and..."

"I agree. Call Yui and tell her the situation," the man ordered softly before pushing back his chair and getting to his feet, "We may be able to corner him yet."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another day. Another glorious morning. It made her sick. The halls were overcrowded as always. Gangly teenagers roamed the terrain bumping into each other, slamming their lockers closed and clumsily trying to balance their ten ton backpacks as they rushed from one class to another. It was through this chaos that Ayumi walked - unusually alone and pouting to herself. Sometimes she wondered why Yuka and Eri were even friends with her. And why she was friends with them. All she'd done is suggest that they not have alcohol at a party for underage junior high students. Like that was some foreign concept. And the way Yuka nearly gagged whenever she mentioned Kagome's boyfriend. The way Yuka and Eri kept pushing Kagome towards Hojo. Like he was somehow was her type. Hojo might be good looking and popular but the boy was strange, way too obsessed with Kagome and quite frankly a doormat. Kagome could never be with a doormat - she'd literally walk all over him and would end up getting frustrated he never fought back. Kagome needed an equal.

InuYasha seemed nice enough - he helped her family with the shrine, came to support her at school, carried her home on occasion. In all honesty, the times she complained about him were words of frustration. Yeah, he chased off other guys, had a complicated relationship with his ex, and was rude. To Yuka it meant he wasn't worthy of her friend but Ayumi knew there had to be more to the story. This guy couldn't be that bad. Kagome wouldn't put up with him if he was.

Still, her friends acted like Kagome was a saint. It made Ayumi wonder whether they even met her. Kagome was kind and generous, yeah, but she was also hot tempered, stubborn and impulsive. InuYasha sounded a lot like Kagome. While Yuka and Eri saw his faults as being one-sided, most likely they fought because, well, their tempers probably mirrored each other. They were the same from what she could tell. It was for that reason, Ayumi thought it was a good match. Most importantly though, Kagome _obviously_ loved him.

"I might not even go," Ayumi murmured sadly to herself as she fiddled with the dial on her locker, "I doubt they'd even care. It's not like..."

"Ayumi Hamasaki, right?" a unknown male voice suddenly chimed up from behind her - startling her into dropping the notebook in her hand. Blinking rapidly, she quickly moved to pick it up only to come face to face with a boy trying to beat her to it.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," the boy murmured apologetically as he grabbed the notebook and held it out to her, "I don't think we've met. Well not formally or anything. We had biology together last year."

"Did we?" she asked as she furrowed her brow, "I'm sorry I don't remember..."

"Tadao Ando," the boy supplied as he gave her a charming smile before a faint blush rose on his cheeks, "Well anyway, I know this is out of the blue but would you want to go to that party with me? The one Yuka is throwing I mean. My friend invited me and, um, I just thought..."

"Wait, what?" Ayumi asked as she stared at the boy like he'd grown a second head, "Like as your date?"

"Yeah," the boy replied awkwardly as his smile faltered, "You are going, right?"

"Yes but...I've never really...I don't know you," Ayumi pointed out nervously as she finally got back to her feet, "Just seems really random."

"We sat next to each other for an entire semester," the boy murmured as his blush deepened and he fidgeted slightly, "Know what? Forget I said..."

"Wait," Ayumi interrupted with a kind smile - trying to hide how absolutely mortified she felt, "I'm sorry I didn't...well I can be spacey sometimes. Biology isn't my best subject and I was probably more focused on the class than who was sitting next to me. I'd love to go with you."

"Really? That's great!" the boy replied excitedly as he whipped out his phone, "Give me your number. I'll send you a text and you can send me your address. Pick you up at seven?"

"Sure," Ayumi replied - trying to hide her unease. This whole exchange felt off but it was the least she could do given the fact she'd not recognized the guy she apparently sat next to for months. Who knows, maybe this would be good. Yuka and Eri kept saying she needed to loosen up after all. Whats the worst that could happen?


	8. R

_Tender lumplings everywhere_

_Life's no fun without a good scare_

_That's our job, but we're not mean_

_In our town of Halloween_

_In this town_

_Don't we love it now?_

**XXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Would you want to grab lunch today?" Tadao asked as he walked Ayumi to her next class, "We can get to know each other. Since you didn't remember me, you probably don't have any idea who I am."

"Sure," Ayumi replied awkwardly - the feeling of wrong lurking in her subconscious coming more to the forefront as she clutched her books a little closer to her chest, "Although I usually have lunch with my friends."

"Ah yes. The golden quartet," Tadao teased, "Yuka, Eri and Kagome. Except Kagome has been sick and missed almost the entire year. So I guess you all are more of the three musketeers now."

"Yeah," Ayumi replied slowly as she furrowed her brow, "How did you..."

"_Everyone_ knows about Kagome," Tadao snorted as thought blatantly obvious, "And I'm in class with Hojo. He _never_ shuts up about it."

"Oh," Ayumi murmured as she gave him a forced smile, "Well, she..."

"She'll be at the party though, huh?" Tadao asked a little too casually - sending up a giant red flag that had Ayumi stopping in her tracks and eyeing him suspiciously.

"I don't know," the curly haired girl replied slowly as she bit her lower lip, "A lot of people will..."

"She should come. Take a break. You should make her go," Tadao cut her off making the girl blink a few times from the whiplash that was this conversation. Why was he so interested in Kagome? And who was he to tell her what to do? She'd only just met him. Well, kinda anyway.

"She's sick. I'm not going to..." Ayumi huffed before making a decision. This had been a mistake. There was something off with this guy. Seriously off.

"You know, I think I can get to the party myself," she informed him as she set her jaw and gave him an appraising look, "And I'll be eating lunch with Yuka and Eri."

"Wait, what?" Tadao snorted as he looked at the girl like she was crazy, "But you already..."

"I don't know you and I don't like that you're telling me what I should do. Especially when it comes to my friend," Ayumi declared before turning to walk towards class, "Dates off."

"You can't just..." Tadao began to protest a little too aggressively for her liking - moving to try to grab her arm which she luckily saw coming and she quickly took a giant step back. Yeah, something was definitely wrong with this picture. Even if he wasn't unusually interested in her friend and already trying to control her, he seemed like trouble. Dangerous even.

"I can do whatever I want and you have no right to tell me otherwise. Bye Tadao," Ayumi interrupted before turning her head and quickly walking towards her homeroom. She'd need to tell Yuka to make sure that guy didn't come and if he did, to make sure he got kicked out. Yes, she knew Kagome was coming and she was bringing that boyfriend of hers. But hell would freeze over before she told this creep that.

XXXXXXXXXX

"...care. I'm walking," Kagome insisted for the umpteenth time as Inuyasha glowered behind her and rolled his eyes.

"I'm possessed not hurt. This is a waste of time," Inuyasha protested with a huff of exasperation as he came to stand beside her, "If you just let me carry you, we'd've been back by now. I'm stronger than you. _Faster_..."

"It's not like we don't walk all the time in the feudal era. I'm fine," the miko grumbled as she sent him a side eyed glare, "Yesterday you were starving. You always push yourself too far. Nothing is going to happen here. What's so wrong with wanting to walk somewhere without constantly being on alert or in danger."

"You act like this era is safer but it's got its problems," Inuyasha snorted as he gestured to the cars and buses zooming by on the road beside them, "You think those things can't take you out? How about the air that's impossible to breathe? And I dunno how you're not deaf. Everything in this damn place makes noise."

"Can we not fight?" Kagome groaned as she lifted her empty backpack a little higher on her shoulders, "We're almost at my school. We just cut through up here and its on the other side."

"Dunno why you need to go in the first place. You don't think they'll wonder why you don't look sick?" Inuyasha sighed as he stretched his arms above his head, "Sota goes to school. Why can't he..."

"He doesn't go to _my_ school," Kagome interrupted hotly as she set her jaw and glared. Turning the corner, they began walking down the small street still bickering between themselves before Kagome felt a chill go down her spine like icy drips onto already cold skin. It was quiet. Too quiet. Glancing over her shoulder, it struck Kagome as odd that the street that previously had been packed was now devoid of passersby and the street ahead was equally deserted. This street was never like this, like some empty movie set or an abandoned back alley. It screamed wrong. She scanned ahead, eyes taking in every detail, looking for things she'd never noticed before.

"We should go back," Kagome whispered as she took a step back and Inuyasha began sniffing - her posture defensive as his hand hovered above his sword, "Something is..."

_'RUN YOU FOOL!_' the voice suddenly screamed making Inuyasha start and hesitate instead of complying just as a dart came flying from the rooftops at an unnaturally fast pace. Barely avoiding it, Inuyasha scooped Kagome into his arms and ran.

"What the hell was that?!" InuYasha hissed as he tried to head back towards the shrine.

'_NOT THAT WAY YOU...'_ the voice bellowed urgently as a giant bang reverberated off the brick and cement.

Kagome screamed. InuYasha ducked instinctively and shielded her as best he could blissfully unaware that the assailants aim was true - the bullet piercing the skin on his calf which had burst from the supersonic impact. He stumbled as every cell in his body reeled in shock - his mind finally registering that he'd been hit - and he could do little save stumble forward from the energy hammer that had just passed through his flesh. A second bang. A second burst of pain ripping through his shoulder and back.

"Son of a _bitch_," InuYasha swore as he continued to shield Kagome and glanced around the rooftop for the source of the noise - his left leg and shoulder throbbing painfully. Whatever had hit him had shattered the bone and it took every ounce of self-control to keep his body upright. There was no way he could run now. Especially knowing there were more of them. With one attack - unlike any he'd encountered before - he'd been immobilized. It was Kagome who had the answer.

"Oh my _god_, they _shot_ you!" Kagome screamed oh so observantly as she whipped her head to inspect his injury before her head whipped to look at his face, "Here put me down. Can you move at..."

"Bitch are you insane? I'm not putting you down. We need to get outta here," InuYasha murmured as he continued his attempts to locate the source. Another bang rang out and InuYasha's amber eyes desperately tried to find the attack - before starting slightly at the sound of something hard impacting the ground a mere foot from his other leg.

'_Enough of this,' _the voice huffed exasperatedly as a searing pain began coursing through Inuyasha's veins and his vision blurred, '_My turn.'_

Before InuYasha has time to react or even question anything, the pain increased ten fold and he staggered.. His vice like grip on Kagome slackened slightly. His entire body swayed forward. It was Kagome's answering scream of terror that brought some clarity to his muddled mind. That and the giant twisted blood colored mass currently shooting forth from his shoulder. Both the miko and hanyou barely had time to come to terms with this turn of events before they heard a not so distant scream that cut off unnaturally followed by a series of bangs. Several clicks. The scent of blood.

'_GO! NOW!' _the voice ordered angrily before huffing in frustration, '_TOWARDS THAT SCHOOL OF HERS! I'LL HANDLE THE REST!'_

"What the..." InuYasha breathed as another bout of searing pain shot through his back, his leg, his shoulder and he cringed. But he did comply - clumsily staggering forward at the fastest pace he could muster under the circumstances. Which was surprisingly growing much easier...the wound less painful with each passing step. Glancing down to inspect the damage, Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock at the sight of a black bubbling ooze pulsating around his calf...supporting it and keeping it from slowing him down.

'_FASTER! VEER RIGHT!' _the voice commanded as another ugly tentacle - so much like those he'd seen from Naraku - shot through a nearby dumpster. Another bang. Another scream that cut off unnaturally. More blood.

InuYasha could feel Kagome trembling in his arms - could almost feel her panic. Could smell that damn scent of eggs.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Kagome asked in a trembling voice before screaming as another shot rang out - a giant mass exploding out of his chest in an instant - ballooning before them into a shield. The bullet hit - forming a small dent before the mass retreated once more.

"_That's_ your question?!" InuYasha snarled as he clenched his teeth together to try to cope with the random bursts of pain, "Not why are there _tentacles_?!"

"Well they're helping us _soo_..." Kagome huffed as though it was obvious before gasping as another random tentacle shot out inches from her face to hit something up ahead. InuYasha had to agree she had a point - although he was feeling more and more lethargic with each attack. It was getting harder to keep up this pace. _Harder_...

"Gym roof! Go to the gym roof!" Kagome managed to shout as they burst into the busy intersection and into the school courtyard. Cringing, Inuyasha felt mild exasperation given the circumstances. It seemed stupid - _so_ stupid - to advertise their destination but it wasn't like this was something _new_. Every damn villain they'd ever encountered gave some type of long winded speech detailing exactly what they planned to do. Half of the time Kagome announced where they were going...especially when it involved them going to this godforsaken hellhole she called home. Hell, even _he _yelled out the attack he was going to use before he used it so where did he get off judging her?

"Which one is..." InuYasha asked hoarsely as spots danced before his eyes - grateful Kagome merely pointed rather than try to describe the damn thing. They'd be lucky if he could maneuver this. As it was they'd be lucky if he didn't pass out.

'_Just run,'_ the voice ordered - less urgently than he had mere moments before. It almost sounded like it was being _apologetic_.

Deciding he didn't have the energy to ponder that further, Inuysha pushed his slowly failing body until they came to the edge of the building. No one was in sight - class either having been in session or by pure dumb luck he wasn't sure nor did he care. It was the excruciating pain that had his true attention. That and the girl in his arms who screamed once more before the world went black.


	9. E

_Everybody's waiting for the next surprise_

_Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back_

_And scream like a banshee_

_My Uh. Make you jump out of your skin_

_This is Halloween, everybody scream_

_Won't ya please make way for a very special guy._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"So you're telling me your genius plan was to _shoot _him?" an older man with pristinely groomed silver hair hissed angrily - his hand slapping the boy so hard he fell to the floor, "The police were called! We lost _four_ men. Good men whose families I now have to visit to explain that you lied and said you were under my orders to pull this stunt."

"We were going to tranq him first," the young man replied defensively as he held the visible handprint on his cheek and struggled to get back onto his feet, "But he was too fast. He dodged it and then grabbed the girl. We had to act! Her life was in danger!"

"The girl is his familiar you moron," the older man huffed exasperatedly as he raised his hand to strike again, "Of _course_ he grabbed her if you started attacking. How was he supposed to know _he_ was the target!?"

Paling visibly, the young man opened his mouth to respond but the words failed to come and he bit his lip instead.

"You're on house arrest. No more missions until you learn to respect authority," his superior snapped angrily - lowering his hand, "He knows someone is hunting him or the girl. He'll take precautions or go underground. They were supposed to be at that damn party but I doubt they'll go now. We had a plan in place but thanks to you it was all for nothing."

"That's not fair. No one told me there was a plan," the young man managed to argue before cringing when the elder's hand raised yet again. The second blow was not as forcefully as the first - merely causing the young boy to stumble backwards rather than end up sprawled out on the floor.

"You don't need to know," the older man hissed angrily.

"What do you mean I don't need to know?" the young man scoffed incredulously, "I'm old enough..."

"Old enough to know better than to stage an ambush in broad daylight. Old enough to know there would be causalities if you didn't have a clear shot," the old man cut him off - his eyes flashing once in anger, "You're lucky I'm in a merciful mood. You know the punishment for treason."

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means," the boy hissed angrily before cringing as the man raised his hand and delivered another resounding blow.

"Get out," the older man hissed as he watched the young man pick himself off the floor, "Or I'll visit your mother as well."

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Blinking sluggishly, Inuyasha groaned as he stared up at the orange sky that signaled the coming dusk. He could smell Kagome's tears. Her fear and concern. Trying to sit up, he was reminded of his lingering injuries and cringed. They should've healed by now but he could still feel and smell fresh blood seeping through the bandages Kagome had undoubtedly placed on his wounds. Bandages that smelled oddly like the clothing she usually wore.

"Inuyasha," came her hoarse voice - thick from hours of crying, "Are you..."

"What the hell was that?" he hissed as he forced himself into an upright position and scowled, "They were waiting for us."

"I know," Kagome replied shakily and it was then that Inuyasha noticed that her shirt was far shorter than it had been that morning. She'd torn it to make the bandages. That wasn't the only thing that confused him. They were on the roof. He didn't remember...

"The...the thing pulled us up here," Kagome answered the unspoken question in barely above a whisper, "I...I thought it was just a voice."

"Me too," Inuyasha sighed as he raised a hand to his injured shoulder and massaged it slightly to remove the ache - an action he regretted as he felt the slightly healed wound reopen, "Should've healed by now. Still stings."

"Have you ever been shot before?" Kagome asked tentatively - swallowing thickly as she continued, "Maybe...maybe that's why there aren't any demons. Maybe bullets affect you differently."

"Maybe," Inuyasha muttered as he lowered his hand and cringed at the blood soaked palm, "We need to get off the roof. Get somewhere safe. Lots of people."

"Can you even move?" Kagome asked in a worried tone, "We can just wait here. The school gets locked up after everyone leaves. Those guys shouldn't be able to get in here."

_'Naïve girl_,' the voice scoffed much to Inuyasha's displeasure, _'Next she'll suggest we return to her home.'_

"Shut up," Inuyasha mumbled before glancing at a slightly offended looking Kagome and tapping his temple with a sour grimace, "It's right though. We can't stay here. Can't go to the shrine either. They might follow us. Destroy the well if we go through it."

"There's the mall," Kagome whispered faintly after a tense moment as she wrung her hands together, "Or...maybe the train station."

"What about this party thing," Inuyasha asked quietly as he cast her a concerned glance, "We can stop and I'll eat so _that_ won't be a problem. I'm assuming lots of people will be there."

"That's the last thing I'm worried about. They might know we're going," Kagome countered softly as she huffed in frustration, "Or whoever told them I usually go that way could be a student here. They could've told those guys they think you're a demon or...oh, and did I mention you've been _shot_?"

_'That is a valid point,' _the voice proffered his opinion in a strangely calm and almost congenial tone. Like it _hadn't_ been a pushy, murderous asshole all this time.

"I've had worse. It'll heal," Inuyasha countered as he set his jaw and glared, "And I'll dress like someone from your era since I imagine they're looking for my firerat. We _are_ at your stupid school. I'm sure _someone _left clothes behind."

'_There are times I do believe you have a death wish,_' the voice sighed exasperatedly, '_But if you insist._..'

Stubbornly ignoring the commentary from the peanut gallery in his head, InuYasha tried to look as nonchalant as ever while he waited for Kagome's reply.

"We don't even know why this voice has decided to help all of a sudden," Kagome pointed out - her tone lowering to a whisper as though somehow the damn thing wouldn't hear what he could.

"Maybe I'm useful. Haven't turn to mush yet so that's something," Inuyasha offered dismissively as he gingerly got to his feet and stretched his arms above his head, "Was damn helpful back there so I ain't gunna complain."

"Literally you had tentacles bursting out of your chest and you don't see a problem with that?" Kagome asked skeptically as she gave him a knowing yet concerned look.

"Well you had poison claws that time you tried to kill me. Shit happens," Inuyasha shrugged before doing his best to walk forward without stumbling. Yeah, his leg was shattered and as much as he hated to admit it, damn thing hadn't healed at all. He'd need to brace it or...

_'Permit me to assist,'_ the voice offered softly as a wave of exhaustion washed over the hanyou - causing him to stagger painfully under his own weight. A moment later he felt something warm slither down his leg and with an audible crack, the bone was popped painfully back into place. Inuyasha refused to make any sound other than a grunt although he couldn't hide the way he mashed his teeth together and clenched his eyes shut to prevent himself from screaming. It registered - _barely_ \- that whatever had moved to his leg had solidified to provide additional support but he still staggered as another wave of exhaustion followed soon after.

"That was different," Kagome clipped back defensively as she moved to prop him up - realizing that his injuries had not healed as they should've and he was too damn stubborn to admit it. Adjusting herself more comfortably under his arm - mindful of his injury there as well, she gave him a look that clearly said _'let me do this'_ and together they headed towards the door that led into the school. A door that learned the hard way that there was nothing wrong with the fist that knocked it off its hinges.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"...bad news," Ayumi insisted ardently as she watched Yuka making the final touches on her overly dramatic eyeliner, "Uninvite him or something."

"You're too sensitive," Yuka huffed as she glanced over her shoulder before rolling her eyes, "Tadao is a really nice guy. I don't blame him for being mad when you freaked out over lunch."

"It wasn't just lunch. He tried to grab me," Ayumi countered defensively as she folded her arms across her chest, "And he was _way_ too interested in Kagome."

"A lot of boys are interested in Kagome," Yuka sighed in a tone that made it clear how annoyed she was to be having this conversation, "You're imagining things that aren't there. I'm not going to uninvite him. If you have a problem with it, you can leave."

"You...why are you being this way?" Ayumi asked quietly after a tense silence that Yuka tried her best to ignore, "Did I do something to hurt your feelings? If I did at least tell..."

"I'm being this way because you need to grow up," Yuka hissed as she whipped her head around and gripped her eyeliner so tightly it almost snapped, "You act like...like everything is all sunshine and roses! A goody two shoes who can't stand to break the rules. Who refuses to notice that one of her best friends is being _abused_. You _can't_ have missed the bruises. How some part of her is usually bandaged or scraped. How she's _changed_. Instead you act like that asshole is her soul mate or something! _**GROW UP!"**_

"She's sick..." Ayumi pointed out defensively, "You don't know..."

"_Bullshit_ she's sick. Google _half_ the things she _supposedly_ has and you'll realize it's made up. Most of them don't _exist_," Yuka interrupted angrily - the eyeliner pencil snapping in her hand, "It's bullshit, all of it! This all started when she met _him_. He's even got her family going along with it! He's dangerous, violent and I refuse to pretend it's okay, unlike _you_!"

"If you're so concerned call the police," Ayumi scoffed as she met her angry glare head on, "Or better yet just ask Kagome!"

"I _have_ called the police and they told me they can't do anything until _she_ reports it," Yuka ground out bitterly as Ayumi blinked in surprise and mild indignation, "And you _know_ she'd deny it. There's no point antagonizing the creep."

"_Yuka_..." Ayumi sighed - completely unsure what to say before squaring her shoulders and meeting her friends irate gaze with a silent challenge.

"_I'll_ do it then," Ayumi finally continued firmly, "You and Eri can be too aggressive and have always hated him. You know how stubborn she can be. Let me try and we'll just see..."

"Ah yes spineless Ayumi is going to man up," Yuka scoffed as she looked at her friend with nothing short of hatred, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Shaking her head and sending her former friend a disgusted glare, Ayumi calmly walked to the bedroom door and left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mom was probably going to kill him. He'd agreed - _begrudgingly_\- to buy his much younger sister a bottle of vodka and a thing of sake as well. A part of him was proud while the rest of him was horrified. Not at the drinking but at the reminder that he was so much _older_ than her. Ten years older to be exact and about to be engaged. A college graduate. Bills stacking up and worrying about his entry level job. His biggest concern was impressing his boss and praying for a promotion. Yuka's biggest concern was how to get as wasted as possible. Ah to be that young again without a care in the world. Adulting sucked. There were still times he needed a more adult adult because he sure as hell didn't know what he was doing with his life. No one did. That was the glory of being an adult. Everyone was just winging...

"Will that be all?" a gangly young man asked in a bored voice before immediately following up without waiting for an answer, "ID please."

At least he was still getting carded. That was _something_.

As the boy rang him up, he saw a flash of surprise in the young acne filled face before the lad muttered in a very bored tone of voice.

"Oh look at that," the boy drolled in a lack luster tone as he bent down and procured a bottle of vodka, "Congrats on being our one hundredth customer this week. Thank you for your patronage at Aeon Grocery."

"Oh, thanks?" the brother muttered awkwardly as he accepted the bottle and chuckled, "Guess I won't be needing this one then."

"If you say so," the boy muttered with obvious disinterest as he removed the bottle from the conveyor belt and scanned the remaining bottle of sake, "Will that be cash or card?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"..._total_ bitch," Tadao complained for the umpteenth time as he walked with a half dozen other boys in various hastily put together costumes, "All I did..."

"Was ask her to lunch. We _know_," one of his friends groaned as he rolled his chocolate eyes, "Shut _up_ about it already."

"It does sound like you were being pushy about Higurashi," a more familiar character commented sagely, "You shouldn't have told Ayumi to force her to come. Her health..."

"If you bring up _health_ one more time I swear to _god_ I'll deck you," another boy teased as he playfully slapped Hojo across the back of the head, "You're in love with her. Just admit it already."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hojo muttered as a faint blush blossomed on his cheeks, "I'm merely pointing out..."

"_Sure_ you are," Tadao snorted as he gave his friend a knowing look, "She's got a boyfriend man. Let it go and move on."

"Says the guy who hasn't shut up about some girl he's never talked to before rejecting him," a fourth boy chimed in with a snort, "When did this happen anyway? Never heard you talk about her."

"Seemed like an easy date. She was already going," Tadao clipped back defensively, "I can notice girls that I've never had class with ya know."

"Hojo would know. Tell me how many gifts has Kagome rejected now? How many dates has she failed to show up for? A _hundred_?" the second boy teased causing the subject to blush furiously and quicken his pace.


	10. S

_Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch_

_Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now!_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Regret.

He regretted his life decisions.

He'd made a lot of decisions in his life.

But this was the worst by far.

The terrible, _terrible_ music - if you could even _call_ it that - was so loud it made his lungs feel like mush. It _literally_ felt like his ears were bleeding. He was uncomfortable in these clothes that fit him some places and were horribly tight in all the wrong places. He'd never understand this time period's obsession with these ill fitting, uncomfortable, cheaply made, overly tight, _revealing_ monstrosities. _Never_.

To make his discomfort worse, those friends of hers were glaring at him like he'd just murdered someone right in front of them. Glares he met when he overheard them talking shit about him. Talking about how he'd done things rather fall on his sword than ever do. It would kill him to hurt Kagome like they obviously thought he did. Yeah, they argued and yeah, he might've threatened freaking Koga and yeah, he had a complicated relationship with Kikyo but did that make him Naraku? No. No it didn't.

So here he stood in the corner with his back up against the wall. Drinking water - which was mercifully staying down - instead of the vile smelling crap they called _'cranberry vodka'. _Which also caused people to talk for some god damn reason. Like he was a some type of freak for refusing to drink that crap. The only blessing he could think of was that the voice was being silent.

And that wasn't even a _blessing_. It felt like the calm before the storm.

"You need to relax bro," an unfamiliar voice suddenly chuckled as a random guy invaded his personal space bubble and held up a tiny glass of what smelled like the stuff of nightmares.

"I am relaxed," InuYasha muttered in a low, aggravated tone as he tried to take a step away and continued watching Kagome - who had not strayed very far and was trying to mingle to _'not draw attention'_. Her logic wasn't the best. Woman seemed to think that pretending like everything was okay would make it so. Would somehow _not _draw attention to the fact that it _wasn't _fake blood seeping through the extremely tight cotton shirt he now donned. That there wasn't a risk that they might be ambushed at any minute or that the weird parasite might strike again.

"Doesn't look like it. You need a drink," the stranger pressed as he offered a small shot glass, "Loosen up a bit."

"Not interested," InuYasha replied dismissively as he fidgeted slightly and tried to beg for Kagome to rescue him with his eyes. Thank god she had noticed his situation but the woman seemed like she wasn't too worried about the guy trying to pressure him. _She _thought he was harmless. _Odd _but harmless.

"Not going to leave you alone until you do," the ever more annoying kid sang songed as he held up the shot glass once more, "So what's it gunna be."

_'I find nothing peculiar about this potion,'_ the voice chimed in with an exasperated sigh, _'Consume it and be done with him. Any damage that may be had I will address. His presence is distracting.'_

"If I drink that crap you'll leave me alone?" InuYasha sighed in a resigned tone as he accepted the foul smelling concoction. His focus elsewhere, Inuyasha failed to notice how one of Kagome's friends was watching them wearily from across the room.

Ayumi's eyes were trained on them - highly disturbed that Tadao was cornering this InuYasha guy now. Why was he so obsessed with them? He'd watched Kagome and her boyfriend for at least an hour - obviously plotting something bad before he approached InuYasha with a shot of vodka. Tadao obviously wouldn't take no for an answer. She couldn't even point this out to Yuka or Eri. They'd call her paranoid or lecture her about how it was probably something InuYasha did wrong since they seemed to think he was Satan himself. It was up to her to intervene or, at a minimum, tell Kagome. The latter seemed the best course of action. InuYasha probably didn't remember her and if he did, he wouldn't feel comfortable enough to let her extract him. They'd only met a few times and that had been ages ago. Either way, she knew as she watched in mild horror as Inuysha take that shot and _immediately_ turn green that she needed to take action _now_.

"Kagome," Ayumi breathed anxiously after she muscled through the crowd - the sheer number of random people baffling her, "You see that guy with InuYasha? He's..."

"Suspicious guy is suspicious. I know," Kagome muttered worriedly - surprisingly grateful and also somewhat alarmed someone else had noticed, "I'm surprised InuYasha took the shot. He hadn't been, uh , feeling well today."

"No, you don't understand. Earlier today he asked me to be his date but I said no because he seemed way too interested in _you._ He tried to grab me and like it was _weird_," Ayumi murmured just loud enough for Kagome to hear, "Something is _wrong_ with this guy."

"I realize that," Kagome hushed her softly as she tried to gesture at InuYasha to come over - her feet moving before her mind caught up when he merely blinked sluggishly at her and staggered. His hand flying up to brace himself against a wall. His face clearly screaming he was about to vomit _everywhere_.

"Why am I not surprised?" Yuka scoffed as she watched Kagome steady the increasingly struggling hanyou, "Of course _he's_ already _wasted_. I don't know..."

"Just shut _up_ Yuka," Ayumi hissed as she moved to help Kagome, "Leave her alone."

"Oh yes, defend the poor innocent Kagome from her big bad best friend," Yuka clipped back loud enough for their nearby classmates to stop whatever they were doing and turn to watch, "We have to protect the _abusive_ _**asshole**_!"

"Where did you get _that_ idea? He's not abusive!" Kagome huffed defensively before gasping as InuYasha lost the battle to keep upright and fell onto all fours, "Hey. Stay awake, okay? Stay with me."

"Oh _please_, we've _all_ seen the bruises," Eri chimed in as she came to form a united front in the impromptu intervention - completely unsympathetic to Inuyasha's plight, "And we all know your illnesses are fake! They started when you first started seeing this asshole!"

"Back off," Ayumi finally snapped as she whipped around and glared, " I'm _sick_ of you two! Just so you know I've watched him all night and the _only_ thing he had to drink was _one_ shot! He's just..."

"You've been watching him? What a _freak_," Tadao taunted - having moved away as he'd approached - and several others chuckled awkwardly - clearly at a loss of what to do. Quite a few began not so subtly heading towards the door.

"Don't try to change the subject! I _saw_ you give him that shot! He'd been drinking water until then!" Ayumi hissed as her irate glare turned on the young man who merely snorted.

"You're kidding right? _Why_ would I do that?" Tadao scoffed before he cringed as dawning realization blossomed in the curly haired girl's eyes. For a tense moment, she took in Inuyasha's rapidly declining condition before her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in disbelief. Slowly she turned her gaze back on the young man who was looking increasingly skittish with each passing second.

"You _roofied_ him, didn't you?" Ayumi accused softly - missing the look of shock and concern in Kagome's face as she struggled with the comatose hanyou. The sudden lack of color in Tadao's face all but confirmed it as Ayumi added angrily, "_Why_?"

"I didn't..." Tadao muttered miserably as Yuka and Eri shot daggers at their former friend. If looks could kill, Ayumi would've died on the spot. More people headed towards the door - wanting no part of whatever cluster was about to happen. The suddenly deserted room amidst the still booming music merely adding to the uncomfortable tension permeating the scene.

"Higurashi!" Hojo's concerned voice broke the tension as he choose the exact worst moment to exit the bathroom - the tiny Purrell bottle falling from his hand as he darted across the living room and helped InuYasha get to his feet, "Here let me help. What happened?"

"Oh my god! Don't _help_ him_!_" Yuka huffed in exasperation as Tadao began walking backwards - obviously trying to make a break for it. A plan that was foiled when Eri came to stand beside him and looped his arm in hers in what appeared to be an attempt at solidarity.

"And why not? He's obviously..." Hojo asked in a confused tone before his face fell when he realized he'd just unwittingly picked a side in a fight he didn't even know was happening.

"Wait, whats going on?" the poor health obsessed boy asked sheepishly as he wrapped Inuyasha's limp arm around his shoulder and looked to Kagome for answers.

"Just let us leave," Kagome replied tightly - trying desperately to hide her growing panic. At literally any moment, the parasite might decide enough was enough and attack her friends who - aside from this random Tadao guy - were innocent in this situation. The fact that it hadn't already forcibly extracted them was a miracle.

"No seriously, what's happening right now?" Hojo asked as he looked to Kagome for answers, "Did he drink too much or..."

"He's an abusive asshole and we're hosting an intervention," Yuka huffed in exasperation, "I don't know how you missed the bruises. You basically _stalk _her."

"I beg your pardon?" Hojo breathed in a hurt tone as he blinked rapidly at the normally nice girl before turning his gaze towards Kagome, "I'm not a stalker. I promise I..."

"Oh, please. How else do you always know her latest 'diagnosis'? Meet her random in a city like Tokyo with gifts all the time? Did you just miss those bruises when you were staring at her ass and tits?" Eri chimed in scathingly - earning a shocked glance from Yuka. Hojo's face drained of color and he looked like he wanted to die on the spot.

"I'm not..." Hojo protested weakly as his heart plummeted down into his stomach. It was a small miracle that Kagome didn't seem to care.

"Please just let us leave. You don't understand," Kagome begged softly. She was carrying a veritable ticking time bomb. At any moment the parasite could take matters into his own hands. Not that Kagome knew what she'd do once they left. This was bad...this was so _terribly _bad...

"Where does he live? I'll help you get him there," Hojo offered shakily even as he shot an upset glance at the three adversaries and weakly attempted damage control. The two girls looked like they were about to murder someone when Kagome replied meekly, "Well he lives with, um, my family. But I really think..."

"And the world makes sense again," Yuka snarled as she gestured at the young man, "Now I know why your family lies about your illnesses. He fricking lives with you!"

"Wait, what?" Hojo gasped as he looked at Kagome like she'd betrayed him, "You aren't really sick?"

"No shit Hojo!" Yuka hissed as Kagome looked like she wanted to die, "For someone obsessed with her, you really never googled the shit her family came up with? Most of her conditions don't even _exist_. This guy has forced her family to..."

"_Shut **up **_Yuka!" Ayumi damn near screamed as she pointed at Tadao who was not so subtly trying to extract his arm, "This asshole roofied him! You honestly aren't going to..."

"Why would he do that, huh?" Yuka clipped back with almost feral intensity before glaring at Kagome, "Know what? I'm going to call the police. This is your chance to escape this guy, Kagome. All you have to do is admit he beats you and this hell will be over."

"He doesn't..." Kagome began weakly as she prayed morbidly for the parasite to do something subtle or for a gunshot to ring out so they could get out of this hellhole. Not that wanted anyone to get hurt, just something, anything to distract so they could go. Hoarsely she begged, "Just please let us..."

"Oh yes, _please_ call the police," Ayumi countered as Hojo stood frozen in place - still helping support the surprisingly heavy man, "Have him arrested I don't _care_. I'd just _love _to see the tox screen."

"HE DIDN'T DRUG..." Eri snarled angrily before a deep inhuman, guttural voice cut her off with such force that it took all the remaining guests by surprise.

"**_Enough_**. They're coming," a completely un-Inuyasha-like voice escaped the hanyou as his body twitched grotesquely and awkwardly straightened up. His limbs twitching like something out of the exorcist as his whole being swayed and his head lolled sickeningly to the side. When he finally did manage to pull himself up to his full height, his normally amber eyes were drowned in a sea of black - obscuring even the whites of his eyes. Swallowing thickly, Kagome watched in mild horror as those eyes turned to her and addressed her directly.

"We must leave," what she could only imagine was the _'voice' _informed her firmly before pointing angrily at the others, "Unless you desire these allies of your to perish as well."

"Okay," Kagome managed to breathe - her face pale and her heart beating out of her chest. In the back of her panic stricken mind, it occurred to Kagome - distantly - that this turn of events was only going to escalate and/or confirm her friends suspicions that led to this so-called _'intervention'_. It meant that Inuyasha was so incapacitated by whatever the hell this Tadao guy had put in his drink that the parasite had decided to take matters into his own hands. To help them yet again for reasons unknwon but which made absolutely _no _sense nonetheless.

"I'm coming with you," Ayumi announced shakily as she sent a suddenly terrified looking Yuka and Eri a scathing glance. A glance that lingered as she realized somehow in the midst of everything the creeper had vanished.

"I'll come too," Hojo added softly as he looked to Kagome for approval before deciding he really didn't give a damn if she approved. _Someone _needed to be there if this Inuyasha guy did try to hurt her. Especially if he was going around threatening to kill people. By the sounds of it, he'd killed before and wasn't ashamed of it. Was it a death wish? Maybe. But you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. Or so the movies said anyway.

"That's really..." Kagome tried before the obviously possessed Inuyasha glanced at the two with an appraising, piercing, _unseeing_ stare and nodded once.

"You may come," the unnatural voice spoke softly before moving out - taking the opportunity to snap the air as he passed the two girls who had delayed their departure.

"Is he...is he okay?" Ayumi asked Kagome as she awkwardly fell in line beside her, "I mean, I don't remember him wearing contacts or...but I mean he _was _drugged _so_..."

"Just stay quiet and if need be, run," Kagome whispered softly before addressing Hojo who walked beside Ayumi, "You too. If something happens, you guys need to run somewhere with a lot of people. The police station. Fire station. Anywhere. Got that?"

"Are you in danger, Higurashi?" Hojo asked quietly as he sent a suspicious glance at the determinedly walking Inuyasha, "We can help if..."

"Not from him," Kagome interrupted softly as she glanced nervously around the largely abandoned street. It was so late. The lights were off in almost every house and the notable lack of street lamps meant she could barely see two feet in front of her. Every sound making her jump and wish they had at least stopped to get her bow. Although, to be honest, she didn't know how a bow would help them against bullets. Could this thing even transform Tessaiga?

"I will not harm you. This host is too invaluable and what he treasures, I shall also," the guttural voice suddenly interjected softly as he held up a hand to signal the trio to halt, "They're close. Do not interfere."

"Who's..." Ayumi asked in a terrified tone as she gripped Kagome's hand and stood as close to her as humanly possible.

"Demon, release your hold on the humans. We have no wish to harm them but we will if you fight back," a authoritative male voice rang out in the darkness up ahead. It sounded older, more mature and with such conviction behind the threat that chills ran down Kagome's spine.

"_Demon_?" Hojo breathed as he moved to stand defensively in front of the two girls - chancing a glance over his shoulder at Kagome who looked as terrified as he felt.

"I'll explain everything if we live," Kagome muttered miserably - her eyes never leaving the silver hair that blew slightly in a sudden breeze, "Just don't move. Let him handle this."

"Just move away," a sickeningly familiar voice called out, "Go back to Yuka's house. I'll let you know when its finished."

"That _bastard_," Ayumi hissed under her breath, "He _must've _drugged him so he couldn't fight these guys. That..._that_..."

"How is _he_ going to _'handle' _this?" Hojo cut the curly haired girl off as dozens of shadowy figures emerged from the darkness, "We need to go. There's too..."

"Do _not _move," the strange voice ordered urgently as he held a single clawed hand out at the ready, "This will be over soon enough."

"What the _literal_..."

Hojo cursed loudly as he saw the sharpened talons suddenly morphed into a twisted mass that shot out with such force and speed that it was all Ayumi could do not to scream. It was only the fact that Kagome stayed uncharacteristically silent that stopped her. The miko's silence didn't do anything to stop the rather impressive string of curses that left Hojo's mouth though. Nor did it stop Hojo from backing up and try to use his body to shield the girls - whipping around and dragging them both against him as several shots rang out in the silence. The bursts of light from the string of gunfire illuminating the poor boy's terrified but determined face as held the girls tighter and braced himself for impact. Screams rang out amidst of the sounds of rapid fire - cutting off unnaturally as bullets hit the ground all around them. How they hadn't been hit yet...

Chancing a glance over his shoulder, Hojo's panic grew to unprecedented levels at the sight of a giant mass of flesh mere inches from his back. The scream that threatened to escape catching in his throat as he realized the bubbling quality weren't bubbles at all. Each mottled dent was accompanied by the distant almost drowned out sound of tiny pieces of metal hitting the ground far too close for comfort.

"What is that? Hojo screamed in a terror stricken tone as he whipped his head around - his chest heavily erratically as he searched Kagome's face for answers, "What is that, Kagome?!"

It was a sudden silence that prevent Kagome from replying as the mass Hojo - and quite frankly Ayumi - were borderline hysterical from seeing retracted slowly into a very calm, collected looking Inuyasha. Several men lay on the ground - incapacitated but miraculously still alive. The remainder were bound together in the center of the road - praying that the police sirens they heard in the distance were coming for them. It didn't matter in that moment whether they'd all go to jail. At least that option offered a better chance at survival than the situation they'd put themselves in now.

"What are you?" one of the men - clearly having a death wish in Kagome's opinion - suddenly asked hoarsely, "You're no demon."

"You are correct," Inuyasha's deep distorted voice chuckled darkly as he tightened the blood colored mass a little tighter, "I am no demon."

"Should we run?" Ayumi whispered hoarsely as she glanced at Kagome, "Or...or do you think..."

"Just stay still," Kagome murmured as Inuyasha's body circled the captured men like a predator going in for the kill.

"I find your methods..._interesting_," the inhuman voice admitted in a tone that suggested otherwise, "Are you demon slayers?"

"Our ancestors were," a different man whispered with no lack of terror - squealing and clenching his eyes shut as Inuyasha's head whipped towards him.

"You will find it interesting then that this host is an ally of one of your ancestors," the voice taunted - lips curling up into a smirk that was so unlike any Kagome had seen before. It wasn't cocky - more sadistic, calculating, _cruel_.

"That's impossible," the man argued weakly as he glanced at the others who were too scared shitless to do anything other than stare.

"Nothing's impossible," the voice corrected softly as he came a few steps closer and knelt down to pick up a single shell casing with his free hand. Holding it between his forefinger and thumb he inspected it for a moment before asking curiously, "What is this? I'll admit these weapons are unfamiliar to me."

"Guns," Kagome responded hoarsely as the parasite, "They're called guns. They...they use gunpowder to fire, uh, projectiles...bullets."

"_Fascinating_," the voice whispered to himself before rolling the metal piece into his palm and wrapping his hand around it. Turning his seemingly soulless eyes back onto the captured assailants, he smiled eerily before getting to his feet and casually walking towards them - making them all flinch when he spoke directly to the one called Tadao.

"What was the poison used to subdue my host?" he asked harshly - making the poor young man look like he was about to die on the spot.

"I don't know. I swear I was just told to make sure he drank it," Tadao whispered anxiously as he looked to the others for help and found to his dismay there was none to be had. Swallowing thickly, he added nervously, "There was...it was in the vodka."

"Vodka," the voice repeated as he mulled over the word and Inuyasha's body cocked its head to the side, "It appeared to be a type of liquor. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Tadao answered smally as he withdrew into himself and tried to prepare himself mentally for the death he was sure was coming. Silently he prayed that the ever louder police sirens were a sign that help was on the way but if he was being honest with himself, he knew there would be nothing they could do. This thing was too powerful. If he lived, he was done with this whole line of work. _So _done. He'd become an accountant or something that meant he'd never left the office. _Ever_. Generations old beliefs and pressure from his family be damned.

"_Fascinating_," the voice chuckled to himself as his eyes swept towards the other members - seemingly staring straight into their souls and assessing each man in turn. His face was peaceful but disturbing. It almost looked like he was trying to pick the freshest piece of produce from the market.

"I had hoped to find a world like this one," the voice finally announced barely louder than a whisper- more to himself than anyone present, "A world filled with things I couldn't possibly fathom. And yet...and yet your actions today cannot go unpunished. Cannot be ignored. You did, after all, injure my host. Had no qualms of injuring your own kind or his for the crime of their existence. This is unacceptable."

"Let the boy live," an older man who looked so much like Tadao spoke up - his tone bordering on begging, "Kill me if you want but let him go. _Please_."

"You are in no position to make demands," the voice pointed out as his curious expression fell and was replaced by cruelty, "Again, there is no place in such a world for the likes of you. This world is moving forward while you hold onto the past. You appear to be under the misapprehension that I will be swayed by an emotional plea."

"_Please_," the man begged as the others cringed and sighed in resignation. They knew it was pointless. That they had indeed miscalculated and were going to pay the price for their stupidity. Never, never had they encountered a being like this. Demons were usually easily subdued or killed. Their kind nearly eradicated through centuries of effort. This...this was something new. Something strange. Something they sorely regretted ever trying to kill. Their leader was right. This was a declaration of war. A war they were going to lose.

Slowly Inuyasha stood and turned those black eyes on Kagome - his lips curling into a cruel smirk as he gestured towards the boy.

"The decision is yours little one," he spoke softly as he gestured to their classmate who looked like he just wanted this whole situation to be done in one way or the other, "Shall we let him live? Leave him to his devices so he may continue to plot against this host? Against you and your family? Or shall we end his miserable existence. You know which I would prefer."

Taking a steadying breath, Kagome shook her head feebily and knew without a moment's hesitation her answer. While one day she might regret it...

No, she wouldn't regret choosing to let someone live. No matter what.

"Let him go," Kagome whispered - her voice shaking slightly as she continued, "Let them all go."

"Tsk tsk tsk. I only gave you one choice," the voice chuckled softly as the tentacle meticulously released the boy who let out a gasping sob and looked back at the older man with a griefstricken glance before running away as fast as his legs would take him. Sighing slightly, the parasite moved to stand before the largest, heaviest captive and knelt before him.

"It is a shame to leave this host," he whispered so quietly that Kagome had to strain to hear him, "And yet this world offers opportunities that cannot be ignored."

The man's eyes widened in horror - utterly transfixed as black sludge began leaking out of the terrifying demon's eyes and mouth. Slinking slowly down his body as his clawed hand moved to grip the man's fatty wrist. It glistened in the pale moonlight before sliding with practiced ease up the chubby arm. Slowly. Ever so slowly as the other men let out involuntary screams and shrieks. Struggling against their own bonds in an attempt to get as far away as possible. The man himself seemed utterly paralyzed - unable to move away despite the terror written all over his face.

"_Ohmygodohmygodohmygod_," Ayumi whispered repeatedly - her panic increasing with each passing moment. Watching as the sludge rested on the man's chest before seemingly being absorbed into the chest. The man convulsed, shuddered. His mouth open in a silent scream of agony as Ayumi's panicked whisper continued to pour out of her mouth like vomit, "_Ohmygodohmygodohmy_..."

Inuyasha's own body collapsed as the tentacle disintergrated and the men began scurrying away like rats. Their movements choppy and stiff as they tried to get the hell away from whatever had just invaded their comrade's unnaturally twitching, writhing body.

"This host will do for the moment," the guttural voice emanated from the fat man's mouth before he whipped his head towards the other men and took a deep satisfied breath, "And so the hunt begins."

With speed the fat man should not have been capable of, he darted forward - chasing the other men into the darkness before he paused and returned to the body that had served him better than any other in his long life. Kneeling down, thick fingers checked for a pulse before nodding once and looking up to address the miko directly.

"Your ingenuity surprised even me. You were single handedly instrumental in his survival and know he will survive," he addressed her with what the parasite obviously _thought_ was a reassuring smile, "You have no need to fear these beasts. I will ensure they know what awaits them if they should attempt to end his life or yours. This world holds many opportunities and for the first time in my existence, I look forward to what this path may bring."

Kagome had literally no idea what to say to that. Didn't want to know how this thing was going to do what he was promising. Would honestly be happy if she never saw or heard of him again. Naraku, in her opinion, seemed like a saint by comparison. At least they knew what his motivation was and knew there was an end to the spider's madness. _This? _This was something else entirely.

With a shaky breath, she watched the thing continue his chase - the distant screams and the ever closer police sirens resonating painfully in her ears. She felt almost paralyzed from fear. Which for someone like her was almost unimaginable.

"Is...is Inuyasha..." Hojo stuttered as his feet began moving forward - appearing unconsciously determined to check the unmoving demon even as his own body shook and he struggled not to pass out, "What...what was..."

"Let me check him," Kagome finally replied after an awkwardly long silence - moving with single minded purpose the surprisingly short distance to inspect the hanyou she prayed would recover. Would recognize her. Wouldn't be damaged - either physically or mentally - for the rest of his life. Although she knew she'd stay by him even if he never recovered. She would always stay with him. No matter what.

It surprised her that Ayumi and Hojo followed her lead - moving without a moment's hesitation to help if need be. It almost seemed like they were in a trance - too shocked for it even occur to them to run away. Run away and _never _return. It seemed like an eternity later that they walked together - working together to move Inuyasha's body back to the shrine. The bright lights of the police cars that arrived a moment later going completely unnoticed. The officers didn't seem to notice them either. Too distracted at the bizzare scene in front of them. Kneeling and inspecting the four or so men who had been struck by some unknown force. Their injuries unlike any they'd ever seen before. Bubbling, grotesque, deflated.

What had to be hours later, the trio arrived at the shrine, climbed the overwhelming number of steps and somehow found the strength to make it into Kagome's bedroom. They deposited the incoherently mumbling hanyou onto the bed before collapsing against the floor. The two new arrivals to the world of unwanted knowledge looking expectantly to Kagome for answers they weren't sure they wanted to know.


	11. Epilogue

_In this town we call home_

_Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**Something Strange**

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Another day. Another class. Another moment away from the only friends she even cared about anymore. Well...that wasn't quite true. Not after what happened.

"Kagome! Wait! _Wait_!" an all too familiar voice called out - one of the only voices asides from her family's that she actually looked forward to hearing. Pausing as Ayumi caught up breathlessly, Kagome grinned before furrowing her brow in confusion as the curly haired girl thrusted several tiny boxes of...

"Pocky?" Kagome asked in a confused tone as she accepted the various varieties before realizing how rude that sounded - not that Ayumi noticed.

"For Shippo," Ayumi explained excitedly, "While you've been away I've tried to find limited edition flavors. You said pocky as his favorite treat, right?"

"Aw," Kagome cooed as she leaned forward to give her dear friend a light hug, "He'll love it! That's so thoughtful. Thank you."

"And I think Hojo has some homeopathic medical treatments for you too," Ayumi added - a little sheepishly, "I wanted to talk to you about that. For the Gishisai Festival his family was actually going to set up a booth. You know to promote their store? I was wondering whether you'd be interested in helping pass out samples? I know that's probably the _last_..."

"Since when do _you_ pass out samples for the store," Kagome asked slyly - causing her friend to blush.

"Well, um, you know we've grown, uh, closer after what happened," Ayumi explained casually - a little too casually and with a faint blush on her cheeks that didn't go unnoticed, "And I agreed to help since he, um, has been very helpful recently."

"Has he?" Kagome asked as she tried to repress a smile, "Go on."

"Well, he'd been _tutoring_ me, um, over dinner," Ayumi began sheepishly, "And there was a planetarium exhibit that he took me to. You know...for _science_."

"Are you _dating_ Hojo?" Kagome asked as she nearly lost the battle to keep her grin at bay.

"_Maybe_," Ayumi replied as her cheeks blossomed into a deep crimson and she looked to Kagome for approval. Approval that, based on her friend's face, had already been heartily given.

"That's so _exciting_!" Kagome gushed as she stopped and pulled her friend into a tight embrace before pulling back and grinning, "Details. I need _details_."

"Well...It started after that night..." Ayumi began awkwardly, "It took us a while to...to recover from...well everything that happened. It seemed like he fell into old faithful. Using forcible generosity to cope. Brought me tons of stuff. Vitamins. Soda. Sandals. You know, his _usual_ thing to find an excuse to be closer to me but it was just...well at _first_, it seemed like he was doing the only thing he knew to do. Like a comfort thing. Drove Yuka and Eri crazy. Not that I care but _anyway_..."

Kagome's grin faltered as her eyes sparked angrily. Ah yes, Yuka and Eri. They had caused quite the scene hadn't they? As forgiving of others as the miko could be, she couldn't ignore how heinous they'd been to Ayumi. To her. Even to Hojo. All in the name of '_saving_' her from a man they didn't even know. Who they'd _also_ been awful to. It admittedly was partially her fault. She _had_ given the impression - _kinda_ \- that InuYasha was violent and in this era she could _arguably_ see - okay, not _really_ \- how someone could jump to the conclusion he...

No, no she couldn't justify the way they acted. It was inexcusable. They had the opportunity to confront her privately and that she could've forgiven but to publicly lay into her, Ayumi and Hojo like that...to tell everyone...well, it was pretty much unforgivable. In a way she was grateful those two hadn't followed her. They wouldn't have been able to handle seeing what Hojo and Ayumi saw. In all honesty, she was shocked the two witnesses hadn't been driven completely insane.

"Well, _then_ he offered to tutor me in biology," Ayumi continued as her blush stubbornly refused to leave her cheeks, "I think he wanted someone to talk to about what we saw because we didn't really talk about biology so much the first time. Or ever to be honest. It was more...well we both needed to talk about...that night. We needed to make sure what we saw wasn't some type of fever dream. After I think the third session...well the third time we basically vented and made peace with what we saw anyway - he invited me to sit with his friends at lunch since I wasn't sitting with Yuka and Eri anymore. And I honestly think he didn't feel like he could truly relate to his friends anymore either. I mean, how could we? Everything seemed...well everything seemed to be so...so...well you know. I don't know how you put up with any of us after all the things you've seen and done. Oh speaking of which that creep transferred out _finally_. Anyway, I didn't tell you last few times you came back because I didn't want to...well, so _last_ week he asked me to go to the planetarium exhibit with him and well...we maybe sorta _kissed_."

"Under the mistletoe or..." Kagome teased - trying to ignore the pang in her heart that her friends had struggled with this new reality - before forcing a laugh and squeezing her friend once more. She didn't want to bring up the painful memory. If they could move forward, if they had made their peace with it, she wasn't going to press the issue. Continuing in what she hoped was a happy tone, she added, "After finals we should do a double date. I know InuYasha wants to hit the road during break but I'll be back at _least_ once a month."

"It's still too early," Ayumi muttered as she chewed her bottom lip, "I mean, we haven't even _really _talked about whether we're boyfriend and girlfriend yet."

"Just let me know. Leave a message with good dates and I'll call the _minute_ I get home," Kagome giggled as she pulled away and they both continued walking towards the school chittering excitedly about the details of the handful of dates - dissecting every detail before...

"Well isn't it _Hojo_," Kagome announced knowingly when he glanced at Ayumi with a shy smile and offered her a six pack of organic citrus soda - complete with a tiny bow.

"It's supposed to help boost your immunity," Hojo explained with a faint blush - casting a nervous glance at Kagome as he did so before turning his full attention back on the girl the gift had been intended for, "It's cold and flu season after all."

"How _very_ thoughtful Hojo," Kagome commented knowingly with a playful wink. A wink that had Hojo tense up and glance at Ayumi who shrugged and nodded sheepishly in silent reply. Visibly relaxing - utterly relieved that he didn't have to explain why _for once_ there was no gift for _Kagome_\- the new couple joined hands and the trio walked together the last few blocks in comfortable silence before Hojo broke the silence.

"So Kagome, do you have any plans the weekend after finals?" Hojo asked curiously - causing both Ayumi's and Kagome's faces to fall, "Oh no, not like that. Just would you and your _boyfriend_ like to come to an exhibit at the history museum with me and my _girlfriend. _You know, a double date. There's an exhibit I think you and InuYasha would be _very_ interested in seeing."

Casting Ayumi a warm glance - which was missed when her friend visibly melted at the word '_girlfriend_' - Kagome nodded once and was about to accept before she frowned. At the notable lack of response, Ayumi looked over and saw her friends disappointed face. She knew what it meant immediately.

"When are they expecting you back, Kagome?"

"Tuesday. When I left we heard there might be a jewel shard in the North," Kagome groaned before Hojo chuckled and offered a compromise.

"Would it be possible to go after school lets out today then? It shouldn't take very long and we can study afterwards," Hojo pressed before his eyes widened and he glanced at Ayumi for approval, "Unless you have plans?"

She did not. As soon as it was decided that Kagome would _try_ to retrieve InuYasha, both Ayumi and Kagome were surprised when Hojo procured a rather large parcel from his book bag - whichhow he'd managed to fit it in there they'd never know - and offered it to the miko.

"It's clothes," he explained quickly, "If you accepted I wanted to make sure he didn't wear his usual outfit. You'll see why."

"I ain't changing _shit,_" InuYasha's voice suddenly called out from the rooftop- without any malice of course - before he gracefully landed in front of the three and sniffed the package suspiciously.

"_Seriously_?" Kagome huffed indignantly as Hojo and Ayumi merely stared at the hanyou in awe, "How long have you been following us?"

"You were _supposed_ to be back in two days. It's _been_ two days, " InuYasha replied defensively as he straightened up and glared at Ayumi and Hojo who both looked like they did not want to get involved, "You heard her! She _just_ said two days! I'm not being unreasonable!"

"I said _Tuesday. Tues-day. _It's_ Thursday," _Kagome huffed as Hojo barely repressed a snort, "I even marked it on the calendar I gave you."

"You did not!" InuYasha clipped back - refusing to admit that he had never even looked at the damn thing, "And I would _not_ have agreed to a _week_! The damn jewel shard might be long gone by then!"

"I have a test tomorrow and another Monday! I _can't_ come back," Kagome countered before she smirked, "Unless you _want_ me to have to be held back a year?"

"You know damn well I _don't_ want you to be held back another year," InuYasha grumbled even as he sent Kagome an angry glare that caused the other two witnesses to cringe. The phrase '_if looks could kill'_ crossing their minds. It was a dirty move and the miko knew it. The _only_ reason she hadn't taken InuYasha up on his offer to build her a house - basically get _married_ \- was that she needed to wait until _after_ she graduated. Another year in school meant another year _he'd_ have to forego having a wife and _all_ that came with it. And he was _very _eager to make Kagome his wife.

"Whatever. But if you're not back on time, I'll come drag you back," InuYasha huffed as he tried to maintain the facade that _he_ was the one in charge. Which he wasn't and all three of them knew it.

"I was just telling Kagome about a museum exhibit," Hojo interrupted into the somewhat tense silence, "Would you be interested in going with us after school, InuYasha?"

"I thought you had a _test_," InuYasha sneered as he gave Kagome a side eyed glare, "See this is why you fail shit. You waste time!"

Hojo moved a step closer to Ayumi and recaptured her hand - deeply regretting suggesting anything and trying his best not to bring attention back to himself. The poor boy had seen where those type of thoughtless comments led over the past few months. He had seen it and been very afraid. Not of the half-demon. Oh no. _He_ wasn't the scary one. InuYasha was just a fool.

"Excuse me!" Kagome hissed angrily as she gave him a look of pure indignation, "I fail '_shit_' because you drag me back too early and I miss too many tests!"

"_No_, it's because you waste time! You don't need to know any of this _anyway_! Come _back_ _**home**_!" InuYasha snarled angrily before Kagome and InuYasha entered into what Ayumi affectionately called '_the duel'_. Their eyes locked, jaws set, scowls on their faces. Kagome usual won the '_the duel' _but there were also times he did. Not as many but a few. A _mostly_ unspoken challenge as to who was going to get their way or who was going to apologize first.

"I'm staying for my test," Kagome challenged as her eyes narrowed further.

"Not when you're _just_ wasting time!" InuYasha clipped back as he bared fangs.

"It is _not_ a waste of time to pass a test so I can graduate from high school!" Kagome countered.

"I didn't mean the damn test! You were going to go to this exhibit thing!" InuYasha accused as he pointed angrily at Hojo - who took another small step towards Ayumi even though Inuyasha's glare was still focused on the miko.

Ayumi laughed as she squeezed Hojo's hand reassuringly. It was nice how natural this new reality felt in that moment. To not have to hide the knowledge she now possessed. It was freeing. _And_ it helped to know that today's duel was nothing to worry about. Inuyasha was going to win about the clothes and _maybe_ the museum but lose the duel when it came to school. Kagome was going to win staying for school and _maybe _going to the museum but would lose when it came to going back _Tuesday_. He was going to get Monday evening after her test and Kagome would be able to stay until then despite the initial misunderstanding. Who would win on the museum depended on who thought they were in the wrong.

In all honesty, though, Ayumi secretly agreed with InuYasha about school being a waste of time. Even though she'd miss Kagome terribly, her friend didn't belong in this era. Not anymore. There _really _was no point in her continuing school. That and there were probably innocent people getting hurt while Kagome focused on something as useless as '_mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.'_

"I'll go to this museum thing but I ain't changing," InuYasha huffed as he broke eye contact first and folded his arms across his chest as he added, "_If _you come back _Monday_ after your test."

"Only if you leave after the museum so I can study and I get a full week - yes a _week_ Inuyasha - here around New Years," Kagome demanded as the duel's intensity faded.

"_Two_ days" InuYasha countered smugly as the corners of his lips twitched upwards- both he and the miko visibly relaxing much to the relief of the other couple.

"Five."

"Three."

"Four."

"_Three_."

"Three but you have to agree to go on a double date."

"With who?"

"Who do you think?"

"Whatever."

And so the duel officially concluded after mostly civil negotiations. As the four of them headed towards the school, Hojo had to admit he had been a fool to be interested in Kagome. She was much too intense. Much too wild. Much too scary. A fighter whose battles alongside a powerful half-demon were _literally_ the stuff of legends that made it into museums exhibits. Who could truly see something that terrifying and move on with strength of mind he had no hope of ever matching. It wasn't that he felt he was weak though. He just was self-aware.

He didn't _enjoy_ arguing - unlike the pair walking hand in hand in front of him like nothing happened. He enjoyed caring for others - Kagome didn't _want _anyone fussing over her. She could hold her own and honestly could probably kick his ass. If Kagome had fought with him like that, he probably would've folded immediately because he _hated _confrontation. It would _never_ have worked. _Ever_.

He needed someone even tempered. Someone calm and relatively easy to deal with but still able to hold her own and put him in his place if need be. Someone brave and kind and loyal - which is what drew him to Kagome initially - but just...in _normal_doses. Not so _extreme_. He was _not_ one for extremes. He honestly hadn't intended to get involved with Ayumi - merely _relieved_ that he could talk to someone, _anyone_ about what he saw and have them not think him insane. The more they hung out though, the more seeing her became the highlight of his day. Casually suggesting tutoring sessions over dinner was his version of sending out a feeler to see whether she was interested in him. He didn't want to lose the only person he could ever talk to who also knew things that went bump in the night existed and _wasn't_ hell bent on killing them all - although that _thing_ probably had taken care of most of those types by now or - at a _minimum_ \- had forced them to leave Inuyasha alone. Not that he condoned the violence or relatively arbitrary murdering sprees. He _hated_ violence and murder was _highly_ immoral. There was just nothing he could do about it and so he forced himself not to dwell.

In any case, Ayumi seemed to take everything in stride and her ability to cope with this new reality had calmed his own nerves immensely. _She _calmed him. He was a _rather_ nervous person after all. Usually he washed his hands every five minutes - probably single handedly keeping Purrell in business. Hyperfocused on everyone's health compulsively. Was a people pleaser to a degree that nauseated even him. But after meeting her, after spending so much time with her? He felt like he was breathing clean air for the first time in his life. Like a giant weight had lifted off his shoulders. He only used Purrell once every hour now - if that. His obsession with _everyone_ he cared about's health has lessened to a healthy level - no pun intended - and forcible generosity had dwindled to a minimum. The citrus soda was the first thing he'd given Ayumi since they started dating and that alone was _huge_. Life was easier with her in it. Natural. Everything happened for a reason.

Kagome belonged with InuYasha and he belonged with Ayumi.

Together they would face their new reality and be stronger for it.

Strange murderous blobs aside, all was well.

~~~ HAPPY HALLOWEEN ~~~~


End file.
